Hatred
by Ra'Zara The First
Summary: Join me on my adventure to Otherworld to retrieve Bree's soul from wherever it was hidden. Demons are everywhere, and Bree and I have no idea how to act in their world. Or, for that matter, how to get her out. Fun, right? Meanwhile, I have a feeling that relations with the Hunters are deteriorating back on Earth... (T for cussing, demons, etc. AU and OOC.)
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to Hatred!**

 **This is the sequel to** ** _Hostile,_** **and an exciting one, at that.**

 **At least, so I think.**

 **:3 I hold my opinion pretty highly, too. I almost always agree with myself. Not always, but usually.**

 **So, let's talk: This story is AU. It's OOC. Take everything after the episode "Taken" and forget it completely. If you haven't read the series – for kicks, let's list the order:** ** _Homeless, Hybrid, Hunter, Haunted, Hangover, Hazy, Halloween, Hot Spot,_** **and** ** _Hostile –_** **you'll be incredibly, incredibly lost. I'm not kidding. This whole universe is one wild ride.**

 **As for the rating, it's T for a reason. Cussing, allusions to drug use, some drinking is possible, demons everywhere, violence rampant. But where's the fun without any of that, right?**

 **For the record, I do thank you in advance for reading the random trappings I call a "story." You're very, very patient. Or adventurous. But I wouldn't have it any other way. :P**

 **So, everyone, I'm sure you aren't here to listen to me babble on about nothing, right? So, Hellcat, let's kick this off.**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"_ _One person's craziness is another person's reality."_  
 **Tim Burton**

* * *

 _"_ _Never seek; only find."  
_ **Marty Rubin**

* * *

 **Ra'Zara the First proudly presents** ** _Hatred._**

 ** _Chase_**

Otherworld was _something._

For starters, everything was kind of dark. I mean, I could see, so light had to be coming from somewhere, but even _that_ seemed dark somehow. It seemed to come from the whole of the sky instead of a single star.

Did I mention that the sky was red? A dark, bloody red. It was definitely different than the usual blue I was used to seeing.

My surroundings were the amazing part of this whole thing, though. Although it looked like your basic wilderness scene, everything in this place was made from essence. It puffed up in dusty clouds from the ground whenever I took a step and floated around as clouds over my head. And, since it was essence, I quickly discovered that I could do stuff with it. It took me several minutes, but I managed to create a small home out of a tree.

Well, not really a home so much as a kind of wood shed that looked ready to fall down in a minute because I made it lean very far to the left just to see if I could. It didn't fall - because I fixed it in the end so that it looked like a _regular_ wood shed - but it should have.

Of course, _that_ got me thinking of something else. If a house that would fall over in the real world stay up here, what else could I do? I decided to test this by finding a tree - a tall one, too - and casually walking up it. Not climbing up, _walking._ Standing at a ninety-degree angle and everything.

That proved the theory that I was going for: Gravity only existed if I wanted it to. I could create my own physics!

 _Good,_ my voice said after it became bored of me standing upside down on a branch. _Got that out of your system?_

I pinned my ears, righting myself on the branch. _Piss off._

 _You could do very constructive things here, and all you've done so far is make a watershed and climb things!_

 _I'll create when I feel like it, dick,_ I responded.

 _Good. Then we've forgotten all about that little Bree project?_

Bree! I _had_ forgotten about her for a moment. _Right. Where is she?_

 _How should I know?_ retorted the voice. _I don't have a tracker for her._

I sighed heavily. I had forgotten that particular part of the problem: How to actually _find_ Bree. _It shouldn't be too hard to find a human among demons, right?_

 _It should be about as easy as finding a single needle in a haystack when you have to pick from thousands of haystacks._

I let myself float gently to the ground and sniffed the air, listening carefully. I was glad that I didn't have to hide my demonic side now. It was liberating. It was _awesome._ I could track someone with my nose to the ground. Not physically against the ground, but you get the idea.

I'm sure you're wondering who I'm tracking. Well, it wasn't Bree. I couldn't smell her. But I _could_ smell a demon. And the quickest way to find something wrong or out-of-place was to ask the normal things what changed.

* * *

 _"_ _Like a church bell, a coffin, and a vat of melted chocolate, a supply closet is rarely a comfortable place to hide."_  
 **Lemony Snicket** **,** ** _The Blank Book_**

* * *

 _"_ _We think there are limits to the dimensions of fear. Until we encounter the unknown. Then we can all feel boundless amounts of terror."_  
 **Peter Høeg** **,** ** _Smilla's Sense of Snow_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

Wherever she was, it was _terrifying._

Demons were everywhere. Pulling her hair, ripping small holes in her clothing, scratching at her bare skin. And those were just the little ones! The larger creatures were hiding in the shadows, waiting on her to run from the imps. She could see sparks of lighting coming off fingers and fire surrounding hooves. The djinnis and afrits would certainly hurt her more than the tiny imps that clawed pettily at her.

Of course, that was before she climbed a tree.

Now, though she knew they could get up there any time they felt like it, the imps were surrounding the trunk on the ground, calling up to her in a weird language she didn't understand. It didn't sound like anything she recognized. Even if she _had_ recognized it, she wouldn't understand it still. They were cackling, though, so it likely wasn't good.

Bree shifted a bit on the branch she had balanced on, wincing. Some cat-creature had gouged a good chunk of flesh out of her leg, and the piece of shirt she tied around it kept slipping against the wound painfully. It wasn't the only injury causing her pain, but it was the worst so far.

So far….

That was the thing that scared her. She wasn't a Summoner, but she knew demons fairly well. At least, she knew them well enough to know what they wouldn't stop until she was strung out across the landscape for miles. A tooth here, a fingernail there, and so on.

They would never stop.

Bree huddled closer to the tree's trunk. Though she never thought of herself as religious in any sense of the word, she found herself praying to any and every deity she had ever heard of that the demons would want to drag the situation out as long as possible by _not_ climbing up the tree to pull her down.

* * *

 **Poor Bree.**

 **So, what's gonna happen? Is Chase gonna find her?**

 **Is Bree gonna survive?**

 **Will my dog stop terrorizing my guinea pig?!**

 **We'll just have to wait to find out, won't we?**

 **So, until next time, feel free to review. Or don't. By now, it should be known that I really don't care if you want to or not. :P**

 **And enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	2. Chapter 2

**Hatred 2 already?!**

 **Yep.**

 **I already had a bit written. :P**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport:** **"I'm sure she'll be fine…maybe…."**

 **So, without further ado, let's get this done! Kevin?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up."_

 **John Holmes**

* * *

 _"Looking after a very sick child was the Olympics of parenting."_

 **Chris Cleave,** ** _Gold_**

* * *

 ** _Mr. Davenport_**

"Here comes the airplane!"

Donald sighed as Adam imitated an airplane's engines and swooped a spoon filled with cereal towards Bree's mouth. Bree, as usual, didn't move an inch. She likely didn't even know that Adam was there. Or anybody, for that matter.

"Adam, she can't eat like that anymore," Douglas explained for the seventh meal in a row, practically radiating frustration as he glanced away from the news report running on TV.

"But she has to eat _something,_ " Adam protested.

"She does," Donald assured him.

If pouring a nutrient solution similar to a broth down her throat qualified as "eating," that was.

Adam glanced at Tasha for support. "Tell them."

"Adam, worry about your own cereal," Tasha said gently. "I promise, Bree will be fine without you spilling milk and Cheerios on her shirt."

With a defeated sigh, Adam turned to the bowl in front of him and shoveled some cereal into his mouth before muttering, "Hellcat would've helped me."

Leo shot Adam a pointed look. "He's not here, is he?"

Douglas raised an eyebrow. "And whose fault is _that?"_

Leo brought his fork down with enough force to crack the glass table a bit, shocking everyone. However, before anyone could get a word in edgewise, he stood up and stormed upstairs.

Tasha fixed Douglas with a glare that would wither flowers. He fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before sighing heavily and standing up. " _Fine._ I'll go apologize or whatever."

When Douglas trotted upstairs, Donald sighed. "He's not going to apologize. Douglas _never_ apologizes. About _anything._ "

"I know," Tasha acknowledged quietly. "But I feel better when I think he's capable of it. It makes him more palatable. Besides, he might surprise us."

"He's probably going to check on -"

"I _know,_ Don," Tasha interrupted. After a second, she started again. "I still want Kevin out of the house."

"Tasha, we can't turn him out on the streets," Donald reasoned. They had already had the discussion after Kevin relapsed and tore through the house in a speed-induced high the night before, revealing to everyone in the household - and a few neighbors - both his drug problem and what he looked like without clothing on (he had announced that it was _way_ too hot before scattering the discarded clothing all across the yard). "His apartment lease was cancelled when Perry faked his death. Besides, he needs a safe place to recover from his addiction. He can't do it without support. And he's paying rent. What else do you want?"

"I thought you hated the guy," Adam responded. "Shouldn't you be jumping at the chance to get rid of him?"

Donald frowned. "Well..."

Tasha raised her eyebrow. "It's because of Douglas, isn't it? Are you just being a good brother, or are you trying to make him owe you a favor?"

"Or he's blackmailing you," Adam added.

Donald shrugged as casually as he could manage. He didn't want to ruin the surprise dinner for their anniversary that night that he was making Douglas cook. "That's between us."

"What does he have on you?" Tasha asked playfully, leaning forward.

Donald smirked slightly. "He made a list of all of my former lovers, including the one I broke the affair off with last week." When Tasha's expression hardened, Donald back tracked immediately. "I'm kidding, Tasha. I'm not interested in anyone but you."

"You better not be," Tasha warned. "Or you'll never be able to have biological kids."

Donald felt his eyes widen. He knew she was joking - hopefully - but some part of him could imagine her wielding a knife in the middle of the night, so he had to fight the urge to cross his legs and cover his lap with some kind of indestructible metal plating.

Kevin's drowsy voice broke the tense silence as the man trudged down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and going straight for the coffee. "He's not brave enough to cheat on you, ma'am. Not that he would."

Adam frowned. "You're going to keep your clothes on today, right?"

Kevin furrowed his brow in obvious confusion for a moment before he seemed to realize what Adam was talking about. His cheeks turned a vibrant red, and he was suddenly very focused on pouring coffee. "Sorry about that. Last night's nothing but a blur to me."

Adam and Tasha were suddenly focused on their breakfasts, visibly uncomfortable. Donald sighed. It had to be a challenge to quit when everyone either judged silently or pretended the problem didn't exist. It had to feel isolating. "Back to square one?"

Kevin nodded sadly. "I was looking forward to getting my first week's chip, too."

"You'll get it in a week," Donald encouraged. Not because he liked Kevin, but because Douglas wasn't here to do it. Besides, it was necessary to have support in a difficult fight. Donald was at least willing to offer _that_ to any recovering addict. "Relapses happen."

Kevin shot Donald a grateful look.

"So," Tasha began, clearing her throat a bit, "did Douglas wake you up?"

"Oly did," Kevin responded, appearing relieved at the subject change. "She thought it'd be funny to throw things at me until one landed in my mouth. I haven't even seen Dougie this morning."

"See, Don?" Tasha gloated, already figuring out that Douglas _had_ gone to Leo's room. "He'll apologize if he's pushed enough."

"Douglas?" Kevin sat by Donald. "Of course, he will. He acts all uncaring and tough, but he's really a teddy bear."

"That has to be the first time anyone has called Douglas a teddy bear," Donald remarked.

"He doesn't like to show it for some reason," Kevin explained.

Tasha frowned. "Why not?"

Kevin shrugged. "Because he-"

The light bulb overhead suddenly surged brightly and shut off completely, plunging the house into total darkness. Donald couldn't help but sigh. "We probably blew a fuse," he noted aloud. If Perry hadn't told everyone to get used to waking up at five in the morning - even if she wasn't planning an attack - then they wouldn't have needed so many lights on at once.

From upstairs, Leo and Douglas started proclaiming innocence very loudly.

 _Maybe we_ didn't _blow a fuse,_ Donald mused suspiciously.

* * *

 _"My mother's psychologist says I have an overactive anger switch, but people just keep pissing me off."_

 **Meg Cabot,** ** _Darkest Hour (The Mediator, #4)_**

* * *

 _"Well, that's an evil smile..."_

 **James Patterson,** ** _The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, #1)_**

* * *

 ** _Soad_**

The power plant was a sparking, disabled mess. Every light within probably fifty miles went dark, leaving only the moon and the stars.

Yet Soad wasn't satisfied.

Wanting to see the crippled world, he had taken to the air in his true form, his dark scales blending in well with the night. However, just on the edge of his vision, he could see city lights. He couldn't remember the name of that stupid little town that resided next to Mission Creek, but he was aggravated that the energy he had used to destroy Mission Creek's power grid - energy it took him nearly an hour to generate - hadn't taken out _that_ place, too.

Soad supposed he could take Mission Creek first. Everyone had to start somewhere. It wouldn't be his home. He wanted to settle by the ocean. He had only ever seen it once - the damned Hunters had dragged him to a beach once - but he was rather fond of it. No, there would be no settling on Mission Creek. It would, however, serve as an example of his power.

He gave his wings a particularly hard beat, listening with slight satisfaction as the power plant's infrastructure cracked and crumbled loudly from the force of the wind he had generated, sending up clouds of dust as it collapsed. A few demons screamed when they were crushed by rubble, satisfying Soad even more. It was their fault for not getting out of the way fast enough. He could see several demons who _had_ escaped gathering far from beneath him in case he decided to send down more pressurized air from his wings.

Feeling experimental, Soad redirected himself to fly over the survivors' heads, grinning to himself as they scattered. It always cheered him up to watch whelps run.

Soad shifted his wings a bit to allow him to hover a bit, loudly roaring. "The dark city is ours! Leave no building standing and no human alive!"

Below, demons scattered into the darkness without hesitation. Soad felt himself smile.

It was good to be feared.

* * *

 **Down goes the power grid!**

 **Release the hounds of hell!**

 **What's gonna happen?**

 **Guess we'll find out next time. If everyone survives that long, that is.**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Each review** ** _might_** **increase survival rates, though, so your call.**

 **And enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	3. Chapter 3

**Let's start Hatred 3 on a serious note.**

 **This is very likely going to be the end of any Hellcat stories.**

 **Well, this trilogy is, mind you.**

 **Why?**

 **A lot of things, but main in that no one seems interested anymore, which is fine. It's just a sign that something needs to end. :3**

 **With that said, there's still this story and the follow up to write. Yes, these will be written. Just to ease curious minds.**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport:** **"._. Wow, chill."**

 **My Name is Emma Rose Davenport:** **Hi. :3 And yes, he did. It's part of his master plan.**

 **So let's read! Bree?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"Step in front of a runaway train just to feel alive again. Pushing forward through the night, aching chest and blurry sight. It's so far, so far away…."_

 **José González, "Far Away"**

* * *

 _"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."_

 **Abraham Lincoln**

* * *

 ** _Chase_**

Catching a demon in Otherworld was quite hard. For example, I tried trapping a weak djinni in a force field first. That should've been that, right?

The djinni decided that he wasn't physically tangible and casually ran straight through the force field, escaping into the undergrowth.

Damn being able to create your own physics.

It rapidly clear to me as I stalked an imp that I either had to get extremely creative or very forceful. To be honest, I was more adept at force than creativity, so I decided that I had to hunt. I had never hunted like an animal before, so I was having problems.

My foot snapped a twig, and my prey ran.

I accidentally rustled some leaves, and my new prey ran.

I accidentally caused rocks to scrape against one another, and my newest prey fucking _ran._

That was a pain. However, it was a learning process, and I was very good at learning. Each mistake I made was only made once, and I steadily improved my stalking speed until I could get right up on a demon and grab it by the throat.

Unfortunately, none had any idea who Bree was or where she could be. Several expressed interest about terrorizing the mortal, but I threw those straight up into the air like gravity was reversed, sending them miles into the sky. It was futile and incredibly petty, but it made me feel better.

 _This is pointless,_ my voice finally muttered after I sent yet another demon packing. _It could take hundreds of years to find her. Just give up and explore the land. You shouldn't care about a mortal, anyways._

 _She's my sister, and I'll find her if it takes_ thousands _of years!_ I snapped.

 _She has days, not years,_ my voice pointed out. _You'll likely never find her._

I sighed and sat on a rock, twitching my tail irritably. My leg was throbbing. Stupid scar. Stupid limp. Why did it have to follow me here? It took the wind out of my sails when I had to rest more frequently than I wanted to.

 _She is gone,_ my voice reiterated. _Giving up seems easiest._

I pinned my ears. _I didn't go through all this trouble just to give up._

 _Fine,_ it muttered. _Fly and watch._

I frowned. _Why?_

 _Because word travels fast,_ the voice explained. _If they hear about her, they'll go to see. Watch which direction the most demons go. Either Bree or gathering place will be there. Even if it's the latter, more demons in one place increases your chances of finding one who know something._

I smiled slightly. _Are you helping me?_

 _I'm tired of listening to you bitch and moan._

I rolled my eyes and stood up, spreading my wings a bit. _You're helping me._

 _Whatever_.

* * *

 _"...So, all hail the underdogs! All hail the new kids! All hail the outlaws, Spielbergs and Kubricks! It's our time to make a move! It's our time to make amends! It's our time to break the rules! Let's begin...!"_

 **X Ambassadors, "Renegades"**

* * *

 _"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."_

 **Nora Ephron**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

Bree watched the imps below her, rubbing the tip of a branch - about an inch thick and a few feet long - on the tree trunk, watching as it slowly grew sharper. She had been working on the branch for a few hours out of boredom and fear, but it was barely starting to show signs of her work. Below, the imps were still waiting, wanting their new toy would survive for quite a while.

Except for one.

A blue monkey-looking creature started clawing his way up the trunk, grinning darkly at her and finally speaking a language she could understand. "Come play with us, human. Don't be afraid."

Bree felt the blood drain out of her face as she started working on the branch even faster. Imps - and the few djinnis that had come out into the open - were encouraging the climbing imp on with loud cheers. Whatever they wanted to do, it would definitely not be good. At least, not for her.

"Why are you playing with a stick, little mortal?" the imp asked, climbing higher. "It's no fun. You should come sit with us down on the ground. Much more comfortable to sit there than on a branch, I'm sure."

The mockingly sweet voice made Bree shudder. "I'm good up here," she answered, wincing a bit when her voice shook.

"The poor little human is afraid," the imp called back to his friends. He turned back to her, climbing slightly closer. "Don't be afraid of death. You were born dead. All mortals are. Each passing second moves you closer to the end."

Bree started trying to sharpen the stick faster. If she had her way, it would have been sharped in seconds.

But her speed didn't work here. None of her bionics did. She had never felt so useless in her life.

However, as if she _was_ working the stick at the speed of sound, the tip started to grow sharper much, much faster. Chunks of wood started falling instead of slivers, leaving behind the beginnings of a perfect tip. Desperately, she pushed herself to work even faster, marveling at her good luck. Whatever was happening, she wasn't about to question it.

"Don't be afraid of pain, either," the imp went on, now only a few feet from her. "Pain is temporary. It eventually fades. If you're afraid of _us,_ though…." The imp grinned, trailing off. She could imagine that it was thinking of a list of reason why fearing demons was a _good_ move.

Not that she didn't know that already. Terrifying, ruthless creatures that they were, they _deserved_ to be feared, and they knew it.

Bree continued to work on her stick. "Get back."

"You don't want to play?" The imp pouted mockingly. "I'm sure you'll learn to love us." He reached out to grab her leg.

With a wild cry, Bree suddenly thrust the stick towards him, hoping that it at least would scratch the creature. However, her more prominent desire came true, causing her to praise whatever God had helped her for hours afterward.

Instead of scratching the imp, the spear went straight through his chest like he was made of nothing more than soft clay.

The imp screamed and dropped to the ground, struggling for a moment before going still. As the rest of the demons shot her a wary look and backed up a bit, Bree suddenly laughed. She was going to die here. She knew it, and the demons below her knew it, too.

She was going to take as many demons with her as she could, though.

* * *

 **Hmm, looks like the Davenport family got a new Hunter.**

 **Will she survive long?**

 **Or will she perish before Hellcat finds her?**

 **And what's happening on Earth?!**

 **Guess we'll have to wait and see.**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. If you do, though, that's one more demon dead.**

 **And, of course, enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	4. Chapter 4

**Hatred 4!**

 **Who wants to know what's happening in the human world?**

 **I do!**

 **I assume you do, too, if you're reading.**

 **Well, that's why this chapter's here, is it not?**

 **:D**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport:** **"No, seriously,** ** _chill._** **Before I smack you for hurting my fiancée."**

 **So, without further ado, let's get on with it. Ysthry?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear."_

 **Mark Twain**

* * *

 _"What strange creatures brothers are!"_

 **Jane Austen**

* * *

 ** _Douglas_**

"Master did it," Oly accused. "I watched him. It was malicious."

"Shut up, Oly," Douglas muttered, smiling slightly when she fell silent. More loudly, he addressed his brother. "I didn't do a damn thing."

"Me, neither," Leo added quickly.

"Someone did _something,_ " Donald accused, closing the last breaker box. "We didn't throw a breaker, so something else went wrong." He moved the flashlight beam from the box, aiming at the wall. "Good thing I have a lie detector. Let's see here..." Donald moved the beam of light slowly towards them, making beeping noises with his mouth. When the beam flashed right in Douglas' eyes, Don sped up the beeping before finally ending the charade. "Just as I suspected. What did you do?"

Douglas squinted, trying to block some of the light beam with his hand. Just when his eyes had almost adjusted to the darkness of the house, Don _had_ to ruin it. "I didn't do jack shit," he huffed.

"He was with me the whole time," Leo added. "Right, Ysthry?"

The faint sound of scales scraping on the Lab floor signaled the dragon-imp's movement. "Yes. But the other two were not."

"Hey, Oly's right here," Douglas argued, gesturing at where her voice had last come from.

"Now," Donald said firmly. "Where's Yahn?"

"He's been coming and going randomly since Bree was hurt," Douglas defended. "Something about finding out why it happened. I'm not about to stop him."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, Donald graciously moving the flashlight to illuminate their feet. Douglas blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes to rid the spots that appeared in his vision from the disorienting shift of light. Don was such an asshole sometimes.

Finally, Donald pointed the flashlight at Douglas again, this time aiming for his chest. "We both know how this is going to turn out, so why don't you just tell me what you did so we can skip happy hour at shenanigans?"

"I didn't do it, Donnie," Douglas affirmed. "And you're right: We _do_ know how this will turn out. Either take me at my word or prepare for one hell of an ass-whupping."

"You don't scare me, little man," Donald replied calmly, moving the beam up to shine in Douglas' eyes again. "You never have."

"Oh, fight!" Oly encouraged.

Douglas stepped towards his best approximation of where Donald was standing since he had been rendered practically blind. "Then let the games begin!" He reached around until he found something solid. Praying that it wasn't his, Douglas glared at the light's origin. "Should've played ball, Don." With that, he pushed the object over, grinning when he heard it break. "Should've played ball."

Donald gasped. "What did you break?"

"I don't know, but it felt expensive," Douglas answered vaguely, stepping forward and grinning broadly when a few small parts crunched under his shoe.

Ah, beautiful destruction. Of everything in the world, it was the one thing that translated across every single language barrier. Not everyone was accepting of a smile, a handshake, and simple diplomacy. He could talk for days and get nowhere. However, he could destroy a few prized possessions - maybe threaten the home of the person or a loved one - and get most everyone to bend to his will very quickly, depending on exactly what he was making them do. Not massive, morally-debase schemes, but smaller things, like paying his exhortation demands or, in this case, intimidating an individual to back the hell off.

It helped to know that his brother's weaknesses included a dash of greed. He was practically blind in the darkness, thanks to Donald's flashlight. Although his proximity to the light would render Don night-blind as well, Douglas was never one for fair fights. He rather liked having the advantage.

Leo noisily started backing away from the two while Don moved the flashlight beam to examine the broken object on the floor. "Instead of fighting, can someone fix -"

The flashlight suddenly fell to the floor as Donald charged Douglas with an enraged cry. Douglas didn't have time to brace himself before Donald rammed into him at full speed, sending both men crashing to the floor. Before he could recover from the shock of pain - funny, he could take falls like that when he was twenty years younger and recover immediately; curse the inevitability of aging - Donald's fist connected with his jaw, forcing Douglas' head to snap sideways and blood to burst forth in his mouth.

 _"I was going to cure Bree with that!"_ Donald practically roared, glaring down at Douglas.

Douglas saw red. How _dare_ Donald attack him! He caught Donald's fist when he swung this time, twisting hard and rolling. As Donald was pulled to the floor - and off Douglas, thankfully - by this motion, Douglas quickly pressed a knee into Donald's chest and threw a few punches of his own.

When Donald's counter-attack came - a very rapid series of blows to Douglas's stomach, throat and face - Douglas reeled back a bit, allowing Donald to practically throw Douglas off of him.

Although he was prepared to finish it, Douglas was suddenly aware that he might _not_ have picked a fair fight after all. Donald's rage was making him much, much fiercer than Douglas had ever seen before.

 _Get up!_ he snapped at himself. _Get any advantage you can!_

Douglas had barely managed to scramble to his feet when Donald was back, swinging fiercely. Douglas blocked the blows the faint flashlight beam allowed him to see, recoiled from the ones he couldn't, and swung wildly when Don let up slightly, his fist connecting with Gods-knew-what. Most likely Donnie's chest or torso. He did feel Don's jaw a few times, though.

Douglas wanted to grin a bit. Even when Donald was pissed, Douglas still stood a chance.

Just when Douglas felt like he might even win, he felt a sharp pain in his ankles. His feet were swept out from under him, and Douglas fell flat on his back with a cry of shock and pain. Before he had time to work out how Donald had evaded the flashlight beam enough to allow him to kick Douglas' ankles out from under him, Donald was there, digging his knee into Douglas' chest to keep him pinned and throwing so many punches that connected with Douglas' face that, after what felt like hours, he couldn't even retaliate anymore. His body wasn't responding to him much at all. And, to top it all off, what little he could see in the darkness was blurred and distorted more with each blow.

He'd never admit it to anyone, but Douglas had been in that position before. He had lost. _Badly._ Not only that, but he knew by his body's unresponsive nature that any random punch now would render him unconscious.

Forty years old, and he _still_ got his ass kicked by his older brother. Life was cruel.

Suddenly - _thankfully_ \- Donald's weight was gone.

Douglas was aware of some people shouting - they sounded so far away - before someone was crouching over him. A flashlight beam landed across his face again, making Douglas realize that one of his eyes had actually swollen shut. Once the pain in his head cleared enough to allow him to clearly see shapes again, Douglas noticed that leaning over him, holding the flashlight, was Leo. He was frowning quite a bit, appearing slightly shaken. Douglas was braced for the normal "are you okay" questioning, but what Leo ended up saying instead surprised him slightly.

"Maybe you shouldn't break something before you know what it is next time."

Despite the pain that it caused him, Douglas chuckled a little bit. "Smartass."

Kevin's voice suddenly became discernible in whatever din was happening near where Donald _had_ to be. "Dougie?"

Douglas attempted to sit up. "Kev?"

Kevin, however, reached him first, crouching beside him and pushing him back down gently. His eyes were flashing with panic, his hands trembling violently. "Hold on. You might be -"

"I'm fine," Douglas reassured Kevin despite his wince. "Just find a few bitch-stickers and an ice pack. I'll live."

Kevin furrowed his brow. "Bitch-stickers?"

"Band-Aids, honey."

Leo looked skeptical. "I don't know. Mr. Davenport handed your ass to you on a silver platter."

"It's not the first time I've been in a fight," Douglas responded. After a second, he narrowed his good eye. "He did _not_ hand -"

"You two started fighting about two minutes ago," Leo snorted. "You went down in slightly over a minute. I'm not a doctor, but I'm surprised you're still awake. Oh, before you ask, I texted Adam that you two were at each other's' throats, so I have the time stamp. And, for the record, I figured out what happened." He waved his phone a bit, the screen lit up with a website. "City-wide blackout. You almost killed each other over technical problems at a power plant. Genius."

Douglas rolled his eyes and successfully sat up this time, grinding his teeth until the dizziness passed. He probably had a concussion. Leaning against Kevin - not because he had to, but because he _wanted_ to - Douglas finally saw what happened to Donald.

Across the Lab, dear brother Donnie was locked in Chase's old capsule, obviously furious. Adam was sitting at the cyber desk with Oly curled up in his lap, a flashlight beam trained on said capsule.

Douglas would never admit it, but he was a bit relieved. He did _not_ want to deal with Donald at the moment.

The sound of frantic steps - and stumbling, aimless ones, the hallmark of Bree since she entered her vegetative state - suddenly echoed across the room. A beam of light emerged from the tunnel, announcing the arrival of Tasha and Bree. Tasha's expression made the hairs on the back of Douglas' neck raise in alarm.

Tasha's eyes found Donald. Disregarding his appearance - Douglas secretly felt better about the visible damage he had caused before Donald won - she looked seconds away from terrified tears. "Lock the Lab down."

Donald, forgetting his rage almost instantly at the sight of his distressed wife, pressed his hands to the capsule glass. "Why? What's wrong?"

"The houses on the end of the street are burning, and demons are coming this way," she explained frantically. "There had to be hundreds, and they were setting every house they came across on fire, too. They're going to be here any second, Don. Please, _please,_ we have to lock the Lab down!"

"We need electricity for that," Leo squeaked, alarmed. Douglas didn't blame him. Where there were demonic house fires, there were the slaughtered people who had lived there.

"There's a generator installed in the storage area," Donald informed everyone. "Tasha, take Leo and go turn it on."

Tasha nodded, dropping Bree's hand and following as Leo got up and led the way to the stairs that went to the storage rooms below the Lab, Ysthry flying close behind them.

"Adam," Donald went on, "let me out and lock Bree in her capsule."

" _Her_ capsule?" Kevin asked, frowning. "Aren't those storage containers?"

"Later," Douglas answered, using Kevin's shoulders to push himself to his feet and biting down the nausea it caused while Adam did as he was told.

Kevin stood up. "Dougie, sit back down."

Douglas spat some blood out of his mouth. "Can't."

"Why not?" Kevin demanded sternly.

"Because," Donald answered as he snatched up a flashlight and bolted to the weapon locker, "we're going to have to fight off a horde of demons until they get the generator on."

Oly hid herself under the cyber desk as Adam started verbally thinking up topics he could talk about to soothe demons with. Meanwhile, Kevin paled. "You expect us to fight off a horde of demons?!"

Donald crossed the room, pushing a couple of energy guns into Kevin's and Douglas' hands. "Yep."

Douglas smiled slightly as Kevin paled further. "Time to show us what you got, Hunter."

* * *

 **Shit has officially hit the fan, people!**

 **Too bad I'm cutting it off there, right?**

 **Who's gonna live?**

 **Who's gonna die?**

 **Will Leo Leo something up again?!**

 **We'll just have to wait, won't we?**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. But it** ** _might_** **make me write faster. Weird how that works sometimes.**

 **And, of course, enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	5. Chapter 5

**Hatred 5! Yippee!**

 **This one was quite a bit of fun to write. :3 Been a while since I've done something like this.**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport:** **"** ** _Thank_** **you."**

 **So, without further ado, let's find out what's happening with everyone. Yahn?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"Moon is the light from a lantern in Heaven."_

 **Munia Khan**

* * *

 _"Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself."_

 **Aesop,** ** _Aesop's Fables_**

* * *

 ** _Chase_**

My helpful voice was actually right.

 _I'm not helpful._

It was shy about it. Poor little thing.

Anyways, I flew in a lazy circle for hours - what I perceived to be hours, at least - ignoring enough of my weight to be balanced in the air for the first time since I lost half of my tail. And, while I was up there, I noted the movement of several demons. They went several different ways, but most went in the same general direction: South.

Maybe south. East?

There wasn't a sun or anything! I was doing the best that I could!

So I started flying off in that general direction, coasting occasionally on breezes and looking for wherever they were going when I wasn't swirling fluffy essence clouds into fun shapes with my hands.

I knew I had a mission, but I still wanted to have a little fun. Instead of dissipating, these clouds swirled and danced around when I messed with them. It was like...hmm...

Like when you put a drop of food coloring in vegetable oil. The color is water-soluble, so it doesn't mix with oil. It just floats there like a streak. If you drag a toothpick through that, it would swirl into a new shape, but not vanish.

Essence clouds were like that. It was neat.

Until night started to fall. Then, it was _glorious._

One would assume that a land with no sun had no moon, right?

Wrong.

Otherworld had five small moons, each in various phases and each a different color. Hell, one was in the middle of an eclipse with another.

Mr. Davenport would've _killed_ to see it.

I digress, though. Back to the point, light _did_ fade a bit, turning the sky dark. However, the moonslight reflected off of bends and turns in the essence clouds, surrounding me in a dark sea with colorful waves. Prominently blue, gold or silver, but red and green were present, too. Those waves were in constant motion, too. Essence might have looked stationary, but it was far from. It twisted and wiggled, swirled and twirled, insert other descriptive words here. It was like an ever-changing abstract painting, each second producing a new design.

Why couldn't Earth nights be that lovely? I mean, yeah, stars were cool, but what Otherworld lacked in stars, it made up for in dancing lights.

Dancing lights. Douglas referred to Hessdalen Valley's phenomenon back on Earth as "The Dancing Lights."

I flicked my ears thoughtfully. _Hey, do you think that the lights of Hessdalen Valley are just flashes of this world's sky in our own reality? They seem like they would be similar._

 _I don't see why it couldn't be,_ the little voice answered. _The worlds are closely linked. What's stopping them from overlapping in a few places?_

I purred slightly at the thought. I might have figured out Hessdalen Valley. Someone give me a medal already.

The wind shifted a bit, carrying the scent of several demons to me at once, some dead. I frowned, looking at the ground to see a large ring around a tree. It was mostly imps, but I _did_ see a few djinnis and an afrit or two. Judging by the scents in the air, there were plenty of afrits and djinnis that I _couldn't_ see.

 _The hell's up with this tree?_ I thought, banking a bit so that I could descend towards the treetops below in slow circles.

 _See that little shadow in the lower branches? That's probably their prey._

I perked my ears, looking closely until I finally saw what my voice was referring to. It was definitely a shadow, and it occasionally threw a stick into the crowd below, killing and injuring the demons. No wonder they all stayed nearby. I didn't blame them. I'd want to claw up anyone throwing things at me.

The wind shifted again, bearing a familiar scent to me. I twitched my tail thoughtfully as I tried to place it. A bit of vanilla, a few flowers, fear, basic human muskiness -

Bree!

The shadow was Bree!

I roared excitedly, the tiger-like noise echoing through the air while my form started to shimmer. Pulling my wings in tightly, I dove towards her.

In hindsight, I probably should have thought it through a bit more. I mean, Bree was up a tree in Otherworld in the middle of the night, and I'm sure she couldn't tell that the djinni diving towards her was me. She probably just saw a large, shimmering shadow with cat eyes barreling towards her, fangs bared (because I was grinning, you see).

And I knew she had figured out essence, too, because when she defensively threw one of her makeshift spears - I assumed they were spears - at me, I could see the silver tip shining in the moonslight.

* * *

 _"There is no solace above or below. Only us – small, solitary, striving, battling one another. I pray to myself, for myself."_

 **Frank Underwood**

* * *

 _"Revenge? You? Ha! I am Smaug! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, strong! My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth are like swords! My claws, spears! The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death! Well? Where are your riddles now?"_

 **Smaug, "The Hobbit (1977)"**

* * *

 ** _Adam_**

Within minutes of Tasha announcing the presence of a demonic army, Mr. Davenport had set up enough flashlights around the Lab in such a way that the entrances were lit well enough to give them all time to see the creatures coming. Douglas was passing out recharge cells for the energy guns, making sure everyone had as many as they could carry on their person.

Every shot would help.

Meanwhile, Kevin was watching Adam move incredibly heavy barrels and machines with ease, using them to build temporary barricades at smaller Lab entrances to allow everyone to focus mainly on the tunnel. The man was clearly awestruck, confused, and about to ask a thousand questions, but Adam didn't care. If demons were about to kill everyone, then keeping his bionics a secret was the least of his concerns. However, Kevin stayed silent. They all did. Even when Douglas showed Kevin how the gun worked - and how to reload - he did it silently.

They had to stay quiet. Talking might lead the demons to them faster. Leo and Tasha needed as much time as they could get to find the generator and turn it on.

Mr. Davenport pressed an energy gun into Adam's hand, his face grim. Adam didn't blame him. A fight with demons wasn't something he was looking forward to. Douglas was putting Oly in the capsule with Bree to guard her, his expression worried. If anything broke through the capsule door, they would at least get an imp to the face before they ate Bree. Kevin – probably the only one who actually had the experience to fight demons effectively – seemed to be praying. His eyes were closed, and he was holding the small crucifix on his necklace between two fingers.

Adam didn't understand it. He had never prayed in his life. Why would some all-powerful being listen to anybody like him? Humans would be ants compared to said entity. If ants thought Adam was a god, they could be praying all day, and he would never hear them.

Maybe it was some kind of pep-talk. If someone thought they were being protected by a god, then they would be more confident, right?

Suddenly, a skittering noise sounded from down the tunnel. Everyone held their collective breath, Kevin even dropping the crucifix to clutch his gun with two hands. Two green eyes reflected light from the end of the tunnel suddenly, a low growl escaping the imp that had found the Lab. It then hissed loudly, the creature moving into the range of the flashlight beams before snapping it's rather long beak loudly, letting out a high-pitched roar as a challenge.

Or as a signal to the others.

Whatever it was doing.

Instead of attacking, though, it backed out into the tunnel again. Mr. Davenport, Douglas and Kevin were aiming guns at it, so Adam could understand why it was making itself harder to see. Adam wasn't aiming himself. Not yet. He could talk one demon away. "Hey," he started, "want to hear about the time I –"

A few more demons showed up almost immediately, a few tilting their heads curiously while one threw what felt suspiciously like a vase at him, hitting him in the chest. Adam gasped with surprise and fell silent while a beam of light shot through the tunnel, followed by an imp screaming. Adam rubbed his chest while looking for the one who shot. Judging by the smoking tip of his gun, Mr. Davenport was likely the one who pulled the trigger. The rest of them backed up further, hissing.

Douglas fired another shot into the group, missing but driving them back even more. "Fuck off if you want to live! I killed Soad the Mighty! You are _less_ than nothing!"

The imps suddenly started laughing. Adam frowned. Dropping names usually worked with demons. Besides, Douglas _did_ kill Soad. He had the false hand to back it up. Hell, Adam had _watched_ him do it.

So why were they laughing?

"Lord Soad isn't dead," one finally chortled. "Did you really think some worthless _mortal_ could kill him?" It suddenly growled loudly as a few more demons showed up behind them, asking quietly what was so damn funny. A few hushed whispers later, and they were laughing, too.

Douglas frowned, looking as confused as Adam felt. "But I –"

Kevin nudged Douglas with his elbow, cutting him off. "I'd shut up now, Dougie."

A lizard afrit with three heads snapped each of its jaws loudly, one laughing throatily. The smallest head glared at Douglas wickedly. "So _you're_ the mortal he wants? You're so _small,"_ he hissed, smirking. "Why is he obsessed with _you?_ "

"Who cares?" a second head said, this one female. "If Soad wants to waste his energy tearing this one in two, it's his business. Not ours."

"Wait," Adam finally broke in, getting attention very quickly. "Soad is really still alive? Douglas _didn't_ kill him?"

The demons shook their heads.

"You mean I lost my hand for _nothing?"_ Douglas snapped incredulously.

Mr. Davenport shot Douglas a sideways look. "You're just going to have to let that one go."

"No," Douglas huffed. "That fucking _hurt!_ I didn't sacrifice it for no payoff! I call foul!"

Kevin furrowed his brow. "You're really trying to pull the fairness card on a demon?"

Douglas crossed his arms. "Yes. Some demons have a sense of-"

A second afrit suddenly roared, cutting Douglas off. "Enough!"

Adam turned his attention to the demons again only to note with dread that the number of demons in the tunnel was rapidly growing. He backed up a step involuntarily as the afrit pointed a massive claw at Douglas.

"Kill the others, but leave this one alive. Lord Soad wants to deal with him _personally."_

In an instant, a sea of roaring demons surged forward as Adam and the others opened fire. Adam was a bit relieved when the first several lines went down only to have his relief wither away at the sight of more beady eyes down the tunnel.

Hundreds of them.

He wasn't good at math, but he was pretty sure "hundreds" was right.

It seemed that three cropped up where each one fell, and even Adam knew that they were likely going to die there as the demons got progressively closer. Adam backed against a wall – a bad place to be – for his one last stand. Demons were nice and all, but he wasn't just going to lay down and die.

Suddenly, demons seemed to swarm _away_ from Kevin instead of towards him, their expressions terrified. However it was done, Kevin had the Hunter's ability to scare demons going strong, keeping them away from himself and Douglas. Speaking of Kevin and Douglas, two were back-to-back, obviously determined to go out together in a blaze of glory. Even with one of his eyes stuck shut from the fight not moments ago, Douglas was still shooting to kill.

Mr. Davenport, though, was missing.

Adam had no doubt that he was somewhere in the swarm, fighting like a banshee for his life. There were too many flashes for him to have been taken out. However, he had been forced out of the lit areas of the Lab, isolating him completely by darkness. Wherever he was, he was on his own.

A sudden ripping sensation brought Adam's focus fully back to himself. A djinni had gotten close enough to slash his chest with its claws, missing his throat only because Adam shot it in the chest just barely before it got that far. It didn't hurt, but he knew that it was only adrenaline numbing the pain temporarily. Chase had explained it once. However the process worked, Adam knew that he wouldn't be feeling this one later.

He wouldn't be alive for it.

He picked off several more imps and an afrit before a loud cry from Mr. Davenport sounded across the Lab. The blood in Adam's veins turned to ice. He couldn't see Mr. Davenport's face, but he knew instinctively that a large shadow across the Lab was him as it fell to the floor.

"Donnie?" Douglas cried out, his voice panicked. This caused Kevin to lose whatever focus he needed, allowing the demons to press in on the two as the fear effect wavered.

 _We didn't even last ten minutes,_ Adam lamented internally. They had failed. Soon, all of them would be dead. Followed by Bree, Tasha and Leo.

Heroes weren't supposed to lose. Where was the justice?

A loud roar tore through the air down the tunnel, followed by thundering footsteps. Whatever was coming down to meet them now was going to be _huge._

Adam shot several more demons away, reloading his gun every few shots. His focus was down the tunnel, though. Demons were screaming, like the massive creature was just running right over them. He ground his teeth. He was going to die here, but he was going to take whatever the coming monster was down with him.

Seconds later, a massive creature slid around the corner, roaring wildly. Adam turned his gun on it only to realize that it seemed to be fighting the demons, too. It was swatting them left and right, eviscerating a few with its claws and biting others in half. It opened its large mouth suddenly and spat a massive stream of flames onto the demons in front of it, lighting up the area as they shrieked in pain.

Adam was stunned. In the light of the fire, he recognized the creature.

Xaranthi was tearing her way into the Lab through the crowd as if it was nothing, her eyes locked on the afrits that stood a chance against her. And, perched amid the spikes on her back, was Principal Perry, swinging a baseball bat with one arm and somehow holding two cats under her other.

Several demons glanced at this new distraction, allowing Kevin to get the fear ability of his running at full strength again. As for Adam, he suddenly broke from his position on the wall, snagging a flashlight off the cyber desk and shooting into the confused demons in front of him to clear a path. He aimed the light beam right at where he thought Mr. Davenport had fallen, shooting everything in his way.

A djinni roared, leaping from the crowd and towards Adam with its talons extended to kill. Instinctively, Adam centered himself between the creature's outstretched forelegs, earning several scratches as the djinni missed grabbing him fully, and shot right into the creature's mouth as it opened it to bite him. The djinni's body barreled into him at full speed, knocking Adam over completely. Before he could get up, demons swarmed him, biting and clawing everywhere they could. One particularly vicious imp clawed at his face and eyes, hissing. Adam screamed, rolled onto his stomach – for what little protection it offered – and closed his eyes, shooting blindly as he resigned to his fate. Like Mr. Davenport, he knew there was no coming back from a fall in a murderous crowd of demons.

In seconds, Adam felt everything faded away, leading him into sweet, dark, peaceful silence. It was a wonderful change from the fight in the Lab. There was even a voice calling to him. _Adam….Adam…._

" _Adam! Get up!"_

A hard kick to his side made Adam's eyes snap open. He yelped and whipped his head around to find that Yahn was the one trying to rouse him. Adam almost told Yahn to run before a thought struck him like lightning.

He could _see_ Yahn. He was blurry because of all the blood in Adam's eyes, but Yahn was definitely visible.

The lights were back on!

Not caring where the demons that had surrounded him went – and noting that he was dusted with silver powder now – Adam propped himself up, trying to ignore the blood pooling on the floor. Around him, demons were swarming out of the Lab through the tunnel, either fleeing from Xaranthi and Perry or from Kevin's whatever-he-was-doing-that-was-scaring-them. The braver ones were meeting an end at Xaranthi's claws or Kevin's gun while Douglas typed rapidly at the cyber desk. In seconds, the Lab doors sealed themselves shut, locking down the place. The few unlucky demons that remained were either shot, mauled or clubbed to death in a seconds.

Adam grinned before he flopped back down onto the floor, suddenly very lightheaded. Closing his eyes, he let the darkness take him away fully this time.

* * *

 **Holy shit, will everyone survive?!**

 **Maybe!**

 **Maybe not!**

 **Who knows? I'm a bit of a wild card.**

 **Guess we'll have to wait to see what's what.**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Meh.**

 **And enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	6. Chapter 6

**Hatred 6! Yippee!**

 **Did Bree spear Hellcat?**

 **Did the demons kill people in the Lab?**

 **What's going on in this story?!**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport** **: "She wanted to save the kitties, damn it!"**

 **So, what happened? Let's read! Tasha?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"You are blood. You are sisters. No man can break that bond."_

 **Kim Boykin** ** _, A Peach of a Pair_**

* * *

 _"Awoke from nightmare could be a relief."_

 **Toba Beta,** ** _Master of Stupidity_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

Bree wasn't particularly religious.

She never was as a kid, and she wasn't now.

That didn't stop her from praying that her spear hit the demon that was diving towards her. She wasn't interested in being carried away in the middle of the night. All she had to do was hit it. The fall - and the silver she discovered she could make out of the black stuff everywhere - would likely finish the thing off for her.

The demon pulled up short and let out a yelp, a force field suddenly appearing from outstretched hands. The spear bounced harmlessly off the shield, the slight buzzing noise accented by a loud cry. "Bree, it's me!"

Bree perked up instantly. She knew that voice anywhere. "Chase?"

The force field dropped away. "Yeah, psycho! I come all the way here to get you, and you try to shove a stick down my throat." He flew fully over to her, landing on the branch beside her before turning into a cat to save room. "I should just leave you here for that."

Grinning, Bree scooped him into her arms and hugged him tightly, a few involuntary tears running down her cheeks. "I thought I'd never see you guys again. Where is everybody else? Nearby?"

"No," Chase answered, his struggles to escape a hug from his sister made less significant by his purring. "We're the only two here. Everybody else is back on Earth."

Bree frowned. "We're not on Earth?"

"Because Earth totally has five moons," Chase snorted sarcastically.

Bree let go of Chase, who curled up on her lap. "I haven't exactly been stargazing," she huffed, gesturing at the demons gathered below. "I've been busy with a welcoming party. Where the hell are we, anyways?"

Chase yawned, tucking his paws close to himself. "Otherworld."

Bree blinked. Opened her mouth, then closed it again. Glanced at the demons on the ground, and finally back at Chase. "Otherworld?"

"Yep."

"That's impossible," Bree protested. "I was in an office on Earth."

"And some demon tore your consciousness out and threw it here," Chase explained casually.

Bree rubbed her wrist, catching the bead that allowed her to see planes between her fingers. She _had_ seen a demon back in the office. She didn't even know who he was. Just that he would've broken through the roof if he had been in his original form. Bree shuddered. "There was a massive demon in that office. Big enough to fly off with an airplane in his paws if he wanted to."

Chase flicked his ears. "He's why you're here. Or, rather, your consciousness."

"My consciousness?" Bree echoed.

"Your body's back on Earth. You're in a vegetative state. Won't respond to or do anything. It kind of bummed me out." Chase started purring again, his form shimmering a bit. "So I decided to come get you."

Bree grinned, relieved. This nightmare would be short-lived! "How do we get out of here, then?"

The purring trailed off as Chase solidified. "Well..."

Bree frowned. "You don't know how to leave, do you?"

"In my defense, I had all of ten minutes before impulse brought me here," Chase huffed. Then, he perked up a bit. "That reminds me: I brought you something." He hopped out of her lap and turned to his normal form, sitting on the thin branch as easily as if it was a sidewalk. He fished a small sack out of his pocket and offered it to her.

Gingerly, Bree took the small package. "If this is a prank, so help me-"

"It's not a prank," Chase defended, throwing his hands up innocently. For a sick moment, Bree thought he was going to fall. However, he remained perfectly seated, much to Bree's bewilderment.

She pointed at him. "How are you balancing like that?"

"Oh, that? We make our own physics here. I decided that I have just barely enough weight to stay balanced on the branch at all times." He smiled innocently, like he had just explained the easiest thing in the world.

Bree, however, couldn't wrap her mind around it. "We make our own physics?"

Chase nodded, standing up. "Watch." He jumped a bit, not even shaking the branch, and sat down again in midair - nothing supporting him - and purred proudly. "I don't believe in gravity. I _do_ believe you should open your present, though."

Bree stared for a good minute before finally opening the small sack, still stuck on how Chase seemed to be floating. However, when she saw what was inside, she frowned. "Why did you bring jewelry?"

"Demons won't bite down on silver," Chase explained. "It seems simple, but there's a reason Hunters have silver necklaces, bracelets and rings on sometimes. It protects the throat and veins in the wrists. And it makes punches a bit more painful."

Bree thought back, frowning. She _did_ remember that Kevin had a silver crucifix necklace he wore constantly. She caught sight of him wearing a bracelet twice, and a ring once. "I just thought Kevin wanted to be particularly flashy for Douglas when he was wearing those," Bree said, slipping the bracelets Chase brought on.

"It's probably just a habit at this point," Chase noted, shrugging. "More of an armor than a fashion statement. Besides, he's not all that flashy, if you haven't noticed."

"I haven't made it a point to pay close attention to his habits," Bree snorted. "Just what he does around you."

"Well, _I've_ noticed it," Chase responded. "He wears them, and so do several other Hunters. I saw one that practically sparkled in the sunlight. She was _not_ messing around."

Bree nodded and slipped the necklace on, sliding the two rings on the fingers they would fit on: Her left middle finger and her right ring finger. She smiled when she figured out that the jewelry was Tasha's. It made her feel slightly comforted to have something of her mother's. She just hoped that she'd survive to return it one day.

"There," Chase said when she was done. "Just be careful if you touch me."

Bree nodded again. "So, how do we get out of here?"

"Like I said, I don't know," Chase answered, shrugging. "As for getting off the tree, though, I have that figured out."

Bree tilted her head. "Enlighten me."

Chase grinned, his fangs flashing dully in the moonslight. "We fly."

* * *

 _"Never hide things from hardcore thinkers. They get more aggravated, more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths."_

 **Criss Jami**

* * *

 _"Tears sprang from her eyes and she bit her lip to stop herself from howling at the bright pain."_

 **Stephen M. Irwin,** ** _The Dead Path_**

* * *

 ** _Mr. Davenport_**

Everyone's voices sounded so... _distant_. Like he was underwater, and they weren't. He couldn't even distinguish between the voices of the people talking.

"Could you explain the bionic robot kids thing again?!"

"Kevin, honey, I will explain it all in detail later. Right now, I need to focus, okay?"

"Oh, do I sense marital discord?"

"Shut up, Perry. And hold _still_ , Leo."

"But it's _really_ hard to watch."

"I can't save his eye if you don't hold still, damn it! I'm working with one hand here. Need you to be my other one."

 _Save whose eye?_ Donald wondered. Steadily, the voices were becoming clearer until he could hear Douglas giving Leo instructions, Kevin still babbling about robots in the background, and Perry urging Douglas to second-guess his relationship with the man.

So…he was alive?

Donald had curled up against a wall as best he could when an imp swiped his legs out from under him, but he had only been trying to delay the inevitable so he had time to make peace. He didn't think he'd actually survive.

How awesome was he? He could cheat death!

Someone, though, wasn't so lucky. Whose eye was Douglas working on? Donald opened his eyes, blinking away the dizzy blur that often accompanied the wake from unconsciousness. It was then that he noticed that he was laying on his stomach on a pile of blankets on the Lab floor. He tried to shift in the direction he thought everybody's voices were coming from only to be greeted by an explosion of pain in his back. He let out an involuntary groan and remained still, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

A hand touched his shoulder gently, followed by a quiet voice. "Donnie, hold still."

Donald smiled despite the pain. "Tasha?"

"Douglas is trying to focus," she whispered. "Adam was hurt, too."

"What happened?" Donald asked. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that they were still alive. That _he_ was still alive.

"We got the generator going in time," Tasha answered. "I don't know what happened here until after that. I didn't have time to ask. Douglas kind of threw bandages at me and told me to help you. I think he's going to give you stitches later, but I stopped the bleeding. Xaranthi helped me move you onto the blankets. I figured it would be more comfortable than the floor."

Donald nodded as much as he could before frowning. "Wait, Xaranthi? The afrit, Xaranthi? _That_ Xaranthi?"

"Perry brought her," Tasha explained. "I don't know how. I didn't ask."

Donald nodded again, wincing. "So…Adam was hurt?"

"Douglas is working on his eye," Tasha explained. "I don't know how bad it is."

Donald bit his lip. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll live, if that's what you're asking."

"Good," Donald responded. "Good. So all I have is a few cuts?"

"Not exactly," Tasha answered hesitantly.

Donald frowned. "What else is there?"

A moment of silence followed before Tasha rubbed his shoulder carefully. "We'll talk about it later, honey. You should rest right now."

Donald was suddenly overcome by curiosity. "Tasha, what's wrong?"

"Later," she insisted. "I promise. It's not important right now."

Donald wanted to push it, but he decided against it. If Tasha didn't want to talk about something, then nothing would change her mind. Instead, he closed his eyes obediently. "Fine. But I'm not sleepy."

As it turned out, that was a lie. Between Tasha rubbing his shoulder and the exhaustion that came after a burst of adrenaline after a fight, Donald was soon asleep.

* * *

 **Mr. Davenport is injured badly? And Adam might lose his eye?**

 **The hell is going on in this Lab?!**

 **As for Otherworld, can Hellcat really fly Bree out of there?**

 **Guess we'll have to wait and see.**

 **So until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Meh.**

 **And enjoy. :3**

 ***Bows and exits***


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, so let's just kick this off. I'm not in an awesome mood. I do, however, appreciate you being here, people. I really, really do.**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport:** **"** ** _Stop screaming._** **"**

 **Sam?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it."_

 **J.M. Barrie,** ** _Peter Pan_**

* * *

 _"Pressure makes diamonds."_

 **George S. Patton Jr.**

* * *

 ** _Chase_**

Bree was having problems believing that she was weightless.

I beat my wings fiercely, growling when I got nowhere. I sighed and landed on the branch again, moving my arms from under her shoulders. "Bree, I told you that you're light as a feather."

Bree looked upset and frustrated to the point of tears. I didn't blame her. She'd been through quite a traumatic experience, and it wasn't even over yet. "I'm _trying!_ It's hard, okay? I think I'm a feather, then about how I weigh 124 pounds! I can't do this physics-altering stuff!"

 _She's nothing but dead weight. Leave her behind_.

I forced myself to ignore the sniffle that escaped her. "Yes, you can. You _have_ to."

She fixed me with a look fit to kill. "Hellcat-"

"It's either that, or you wait for them," I interrupted, pointing at the demons below. Several were yelling at me in Aramaic, one of the few languages that Douglas didn't program me to understand. It was a bit frustrating that I didn't know exactly what they were bitching about. I didn't want to wait for them to realize that I wasn't trying to drag her down to them, either. I just wanted to take Bree and get the hell out of Dodge. "Look, I can do it. So that means you can, too."

"It's easier for you," Bree snapped. "You're used to changing your form. You have to change your sense of bodily physics every single time you do. I mean, you can be you one moment and weightless smoke the next!" She pointed at herself. "I can't shift gears like that. All I've ever been is Bree." She started pacing. "I've never been weightless. It's a sensation I don't understand."

I frowned, noticing something. "Bree -"

"And you had to come here and strand us both in this hell hole," Bree continued, venting now and continuing to pace.

"Bree-"

"We're never going to get out of here," she lamented. "Those disgusting creatures beneath us are going to tear us to pieces!"

" _Bree_ -"

 _"What?"_ She snapped, stopping to glare at me.

"You're...nothing," I quickly said, deciding that it would be best if she _didn't_ know she was standing in midair. She might see herself floating and panic, _especially_ when she saw the eager demons swarming below her, waiting for her to fall. After that, she'd drop like a stone.

Bree stalked towards me. "Don't 'nothing' me," she huffed, crossing her arms. "What is it?"

I spread my wings, stretching them a bit. "Fine. I just have an idea. That's all."

She raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "An idea? Really?"

"Yep," I answered, popping the "p." I twitched my half-tail a bit. "But first, come here." I pointed right in front of me.

Bree scowled, moving to the spot. "Why?"

"Because you were walking in midair," I explained, reaching out to hold her shoulder and steady her on the branch. When Bree shot me a look, I flicked my ears a bit. "Did you really think you were pacing on the branch still? Please."

Bree looked down, paling a bit. "I was walking on air?"

"Yeah," I responded. "See? You can do it. You just can't overthink it."

Bree nodded. "So...I should close my eyes and imagine that I'm floating?"

"Not imagine," I responded. " _Know_ you're floating."

Bree nodded again. "Well, can we hurry up about it?"

I frowned. "Why?"

Bree pointed down below. "Because I think he's tired of waiting."

I followed her finger just to yelp.

 _Oh, push him off of the tree!_

I lowered my ears, swallowing panic. Climbing up the tree was an impatient demon, his eyes locked on Bree.

And I couldn't defend her against a fucking _afrit_.

"Push her down," the afrit called, climbing closer. "Or _I_ will."

Bree snapped a long stick off of a tree branch nearby and started rubbing it against the tree. I, meanwhile, was praying that her death - and mine, when I fought the afrit - was quick and merciful.

* * *

 _"...You're all I'm reaching for...I'd give it all to you. I offer up my soul...I know it's already over..."_

 **Red, "Already Over"**

* * *

 _"I love you every day. And now, I will miss you every day."_

 **Mitch Albom,** ** _For One More Day_**

* * *

 ** _Samantha_**

Sam had always liked darkness and shadows.

To her, it was the ultimate friend. It hid her when she wanted to cry or lose emotional control. It embraced her at night, comforting her and carrying her into sleep. She sometimes turned off all the lights in her room and whispered secrets into the night, knowing full-well that they were safe.

Yes, darkness was suited her. It kept her peace, served as her sanctuary, and acted as her shroud. She liked secrets. She enjoyed hiding things from others. As much of a confident façade as she put up, she was quite insecure. She heard people at school judging how she dressed and who she talked to. It was the same way they judged Chase.

Freak.

Troublemaker.

Thief.

And her? They considered her the "Bonnie" to Chase's "Clyde." There was often the quiet accusation as she passed someone that she was nothing more than a slut, than this new, bolder Chase's concubine. They weren't even dating, but they spent so much time together that it became an assumed thing. And, somehow, this assumption made Chase and Sam even more of outcasts than before.

Not that they needed help with that. When one dressed in solid black or pulled scams, they tended to be ostracized.

So Sam liked the secret nature darkness. You couldn't judge what you couldn't see, so she was safe within it.

It was this love of darkness that ended up saving her life.

Per Perry's demand that everyone acclimate to waking early in the morning, Sam had been taking a walk outside when the blackout hit. The streetlights, some traffic lights, and every lit window in buildings suddenly switched off, plunging her into more complete darkness. Although she enjoyed her new surroundings a bit, Sam was a tad annoyed. Until her eyes adjusted, she was alone in darkness at five in the morning. It wasn't exactly the safest situation to be in. Who knew who else was out there with her? So Sam felt around until she found a porch and promptly sat to wait for her eyes to catch up, her hand in her pocket like she had a weapon.

She didn't, but she could pretend.

Her eyes were barely adjusted when she noted an orange glow a few neighborhoods over. She frowned, getting up. She couldn't be sure in the darkness, but she could've sworn that was _her_ neighborhood. Careful not to trip over anything, she made her way over to the glow as fast as she could. It was slow going, and the glowing was spreading. She was a street over when she could see smoke and flames now. More importantly, said smoke and flames were leaping from several houses.

Including hers.

Able to see much better due to the light the fires produced, Sam bolted the rest of the way, turning the corner only to slide to a stop.

Demons. Demons everywhere.

Laughing, snarling, tearing people apart with their claws and burning everything they came across, the demons were _everywhere._

But Sam's parents weren't. She couldn't see them anywhere.

She took a step forward, holding her arm up to shield her eyes from the intense light and heat. "Mom? Dad?"

An imp suddenly noticed her for the first time, smirking. "Hello, mortal. Want to play with us?"

Sam felt like her feet were suddenly frozen to the sidewalk. "No, thanks," she whimpered.

The imp scurried towards her a bit, grinning. "Oh, come now. It'll be fun. I'm sure you'll like it as much as whoever this 'Mom' and 'Dad' are. Well, _were_." He pointed at the fires. "Humans like to be warm, no?"

At that, Sam spun on her heels and bolted away, terrified. She didn't pay attention to where she was running or what might be chasing her. She just ran. She fled the burning light of the demonic fires, making her way blindly into the darkness. Anywhere would be better than there. _Anywhere._

Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath Sam. With a loud scream, she felt herself falling, the edges of the hole scraping painfully at her before she dropped fully away from it. _This is it,_ she thought. _This is how I die: Falling into a damn hole._

Only a few feet later, she landed with a loud slash of water, soaking herself. Her wrist struck something hard, sending a shockwave of pain through her arm as the smell of sewage suddenly assaulted her nostrils.

Stunned, Sam sat still for several moments before finally looking around, pulling her throbbing wrist up to cradle it against her chest. _A manhole,_ she realized slowly. _I've fallen into an open manhole. I'm in the sewers._

Sam moved rapidly out of the filthy water, wrinkling her nose as she climbed onto what had to be the concrete ledge that ran along the tunnel. She must have hit the edge with her wrist.

When she fell.

While she was running away from where her parents might have still been alive, needing help.

Like a _coward._

Cradling her injured wrist tighter to her chest, Sam sat against the outer wall of the sewer system and started to cry.

* * *

 **Holy shit, the afrit's gonna maul somebody!**

 **And Sam's parents! Are they okay?**

 **What about Sam?**

 **And the Davenports?**

 **Unfortunately, I might not actually continue this.**

 **It's a bad part of being upset, but I can't deal with it well. I kinda just lose inspiration to do anything at all.**

 **I know where the story goes.**

 **I know where I** ** _want_** **it to go.**

 **But I don't know how exactly to get it there, and I'm not inspired to actually do much exploring after today.**

 **But I'm-a try, damn it!**

 **So don't get alarmed if it starts taking a few weeks to update. If it takes a few months, you should probably give up.**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Meh.**

 **And, of course, enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	8. Chapter 8

**Hatred 8! Finally, right?**

 **So, who wants to catch up on the Davenports?**

 **I do!**

 **But first, this!**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport:** **It's fine.**

 **"…** **Is she gonna be okay?"**

 **Let's do this! Xaranthi?**

 **"** **Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"_ _Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."_

 **Napoléon Bonaparte**

* * *

 _"_ _The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."_

 **Sun Tzu,** ** _The Art of War_**

* * *

 **Leo**

The house was burning down above them.

Leo could feel the heat if he stood close enough to the door. It reminded him of when Douglas had blown up the old Lab, except that he wasn't trapped in an elevator this time. He wasn't worried about the fire killing them. Mr. Davenport had made a point to fireproof the new Lab.

Just in case.

Speaking of Mr. Davenport, the man was sitting on the pile of blankets Tasha had assembled, staring at his hands. He wiggled his fingers – or, rather, the six fingers he had left – with obvious distraught. His other four – the pinky, ring and middle fingers on his left hand and the index finger on his right – were varying lengths now. Hell, the pinky was completely gone. His ring and index fingers were only halfway missing, and only the very tip of his middle finger had been bitten – or clawed – off.

Couple that with a few deep, large wounds that would undoubtedly scar horribly on his back and arms, and Mr. Davenport had actually gotten off quite lightly. He had been in the claws of demons. That he was alive at all was a wonder.

Tasha rubbed Mr. Davenport's shoulders gently, whispering reassuring things to him. At least no one would have to hear about how they ruined his "good looks." His face had escaped injury.

Adam, however, wasn't as lucky.

A demon had left a long row of gouges across his face, one cutting through his left eye. Although Douglas had succeeded in saving the eye, he wasn't confident about Adam being able to see from it ever again. The rest of the gouges were stitched shut with what few supplies Douglas had made Yahn scrounge up. The shallow ones wouldn't be a problem. However, one that tore completely through his cheek and the wound that had cost Adam half of his vision would undoubtedly mar his complexion forever.

Kevin let out a squeak of pain from across the Lab, catching Leo's attention. Douglas pulled a bandage tight over Kevin's forearm with his remaining hand, apologizing before quietly resuming his explanation of bionics. A demon had bitten through the robotic hand, rendering it unfunctional.

Leo winced, suddenly glad Adam was still unconscious. It had been made clear almost immediately that Mr. Davenport was too confident in everyone's abilities, because the Lab was woefully unprepared for a medical disaster of this scale. No pain killers more powerful than Tylenol, nothing to allow Douglas to reattach the mangled piece of finger Ysthry had located, limited thread for sutures, and no antibiotics. It was like living in the Middle Ages! Only with Tylenol!

Leo shivered.

"What's your problem, Dooley?"

Leo glanced at Perry, who had taken over the chair at cyber desk. Behind her, Xaranthi was sniffing at Bree's capsule, her large nostrils flaring while Perry's two cats sat bravely on her paws. Leo sighed. "It's nothing. Just that an army of _demons_ nearly killed us!"

"So?" Perry snorted.

Leo almost ordered Ysthry to lick her. " _So?_ Look around you!" He gestured around, catching basically everyone's attention. "How are you so calm?"

"We're in an underground bunker and everyone's still alive, moron," Perry huffed. "For the time being, we're safe. And the demons that are burning the place probably think we're burning to death in here. It puts us in the best position to mount a counter-attack."

"Your army was made of demons!" Kevin snapped. "It's gone! They're all with Soad now!"

Xaranthi shuddered a bit at the name while Perry rolled her eyes. "I don't know who this Soad guy is, but demons have to listen to Summoners, right?"

"Their Summoners are likely dead," Mr. Davenport pointed out, still staring at his hands.

Perry grinned. "Exactly. And what happens when Summoners die?"

Douglas' eyes suddenly widened. "The demons go back to Otherworld!"

"His army isn't self-sustaining," Leo said slowly as it dawned on him. "With each Summoner they kill, more demons disappear."

"Exactly," Perry confirmed. She leaned against Xaranthi. "And she'll eat the rest. And Kevin, too."

Kevin shifted uneasily. "You shouldn't have taught her how to summon, Dougie."

"Don't hurt him," Douglas huffed sternly. "I haven't perfected the technology yet, but I'll find a way to launch you into a black hole if you do."

"Or," Perry corrected, "you'll realize that I'm the best you're going to do and just learn to accept it."

Douglas looked like he wanted to throw a chair at her. "I'm _not interested_ , Perry."

"So piss off," Kevin added, narrowing his eyes jealously.

"Oh, playing hard to get? Mama likes." Perry winked, causing Leo to gag slightly.

Douglas ran his remaining hand down his face, obviously frustrated. Meanwhile, Tasha smiled a bit. "There's no better way to spend the apocalypse than with your soulmate, Dougie."

Perry pointed at Tasha, nodding to agree.

Douglas set his jaw. "Do you both want to go out in the fire?"

"Only if it's a symbol of our burning passion for each other," Perry stated quickly.

Kevin suddenly jumped as Douglas threw his hands up and wailed at the ceiling. "Why me, Father Herne? What did I do to deserve this, Mother Brighid? Why?"

Mr. Davenport suddenly laughed a bit. "Ever mind the Rule of Three. Maybe They feel that this is more than adequate karma for you trying to kill us?"

Douglas crossed his arms, muttering. "Threefold return, indeed."

"Yeah," Perry responded. "I'm threefold better than Kevin is."

At Douglas' and Kevin's pained expressions, Mr. Davenport, Tasha and Leo cracked up.

It was almost like everything _wasn't_ going to hell.

* * *

" _I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens."_

 **Woody Allen**

* * *

 _"_ _No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear."_

 **C.S. Lewis,** ** _A Grief Observed_**

* * *

 ** _Samantha_**

Sewers were disgusting.

The smell wasn't the worst thing in the world. She could get used to it. As for walking down it, the ledge kept her out of the waste waters that flowed beside her.

The cold, wet sewage drying on her clothing was driving her up a damn wall, though. And, to top it all off, she was fairly certain her wrist was broken. It had turned an ugly dark color a while ago, and it still hurt like a bitch.

At least she had run out of tears. She had mourned her parents - and her cowardice - for what felt like hours. It was hard to tell time underground. As far as she could tell, though, the sun hadn't even risen yet. No light was filtering into the sewer via cracks and holes.

She had probably only been down there for an hour. Maybe.

It was when she found that she couldn't cry anymore that she stood up, picked a direction, and started walking. Nothing would be solved by her sitting around sobbing. It was time for action. While following the sewer was an incredibly small action, it was still something. She wasn't too sure where she would end up, but she didn't want to wait for the demons to follow her into the hole.

The psychotic demons...

Sam shuddered. She had never had a reason to fear them. Sure, people had said they were dangerous. Hell, Chase spent a lot of time making sure she understood the full extent of his powers in case he "snapped" one day. Nothing she had ever seen actually justified those warnings, though.

Not until she watched it for herself.

Were demons really that dangerous the entire time? How _naïve_ she had been. Was Chase capable of something like that? She thought of her friend, trying to imagine him tearing a person to pieces.

She was relieved that she couldn't.

It was well into her trek that the air was filled with shouting. Flashlights were suddenly blinding her, causing her to stumble back in surprise. This was a _sewer_ , after all. Nothing should've been down there with her. _Especially_ people who sounded like they were cocking guns. She wanted to shout that she was a friend of whoever was going to kill her – or that she was harmless – but her mouth was too dry to speak.

For all her bragging, she was quickly discovering that she didn't have the resolve to stand up to life-and-death situations bravely.

She found that she didn't even have to say a word, though. Instead, someone started shouting over everybody else. "Stop! Don't shoot! She's human!"

The lights moved to point at areas around her, no longer blinding her. She could now see the people aiming at her. Or, rather, who _had_ been aiming at her. They had lowered their guns, most choosing to ignore her now. However, one man walked towards her, smiling. "Don't worry," he started. "I'm James, and we're demon hunters. You're safe now."

* * *

 **The Hunters lived!**

 **And so did Adam! And Mr. Davenport! Woohoo!**

 **But what about Bree and Chase?**

 **Guess we'll have to wait until next time.**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or not. Meh.**

 **And enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	9. Chapter 9

**Woo, chapter 9!**

 **What's going on?! Let's find out!**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport : Yes! 'Tis he!**

 **Yahn?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"Everything you can imagine is real."_

 **Pablo Picasso**

* * *

" _The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it."_

 **J.M. Barrie, _Peter Pan_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

"Come down, little mortal," called the afrit. Disgusting, furry alligator thing. He clawed his way further up the tree, grinning.

Bree shuddered. Nothing should have _that_ many rows of teeth.

Chase was practically dancing on the branch, flailing his arms around. "What are you doing? You don't have time to sharpen that damn thing!"

Despite the terrifying situation, Bree rolled her eyes. To the "omniscient" mission leader, calm and collected meant panicked and unorganized planning. When asked about his panic later, he would deny it, but everyone else saw the momentary loss of control that terror or a plan turning out unexpectedly often struck him with. He'd pull himself together momentarily and pretend to have been fine the whole time.

Until then, Bree was in charge.

Once she was satisfied at the sharpness, Bree threw it hard at the afrit. She grinned when it embedded itself into the creature's shoulder. However, her mood soured quickly when the afrit swung his head around and bit down on the spear, pulling it free with a slight wince. The injury started to heal itself as the creature grabbed the spear with one hand and threw it back at her with an angry roar.

Bree flinched, losing her balance on the branch and falling backwards. _Be light as a feather, be light as a feather,_ she thought rapidly. It was no use, though. She was too used to the idea of gravity. With a cry of alarm, she fell, avoiding the spear.

The spear was the least of her worries, though. She was falling into the waiting hands of cheering demons. Letting out a scream, she closed her eyes.

She never felt those hands.

Bree hit a hard surface at full speed, the impact forcing air from her lungs. Coughing, Bree opened one eye a bit only to see a bright blue beneath her, holding her up.

Chase's forcefield.

He had pulled his shit together.

Accented by a furious beating of wings, Chase spoke rapidly. "Bree, close your eyes and imagine running!"

"Is now really the time?" Bree protested, looking up at him.

Chase flew in several tight circles around her. "Now's _perfect_ ," he assured her. He back-winged rapidly to avoid a swipe of the afrit's claws. "I promise."

"Is this just some happy final thought thing?"

Chase let out a frustrated roar. " _Do it!"_

Confused, Bree closed her eyes and imagined running. She remembered the sound of the wind and the stretching of muscle as she crossed into Mexico in seconds.

No. Not fast enough.

She heard the pounding of her feet, felt the rush of adrenaline as she passed into South America from Mission Creek in seconds again.

 _Not fast enough._

She smelled the clean air of the ocean, felt the weightlessness of flying over the water as she sprinted over the top of the Pacific Ocean.

Bree always loved running over water. Doing the impossible was always, _always_ exhilarating. Screw running on land; she wanted to fly over water at the highest speeds.

When she finally opened her eyes, she was startled to find that she actually _was_ flying. Or, rather, that Chase was flying and holding her up, one of his arms under each of her shoulders. She glanced behind her only to see the tree where they had been moments ago - and the demons that surrounded it - were at least a few miles away.

Chase started to beat his wings more frantically. "Damn it, Bree! Make yourself weightless again!"

Wincing at the approaching tree tops, Bree closed her eyes and focused on flying over the ocean once more.

* * *

 _"The future depends on what you do today."_

 **Mahatma Gandhi**

* * *

 _"Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe."_

 **Mitch Albom _, Have a Little Faith: a True Story_**

* * *

 ** _Douglas_**

"So," Adam began, wincing as the word aggravated the wound in his cheek. "I can't see anything to my left because...?"

"Something tried to claw your eye out," Douglas answered. He set his jaw. "Why did you move away from the wall? You would've been fine if you stayed where you were."

Adam shrugged. "I was trying to help Mr. Davenport."

Douglas wanted to chew out his eldest son for his reckless heroism. A dead hero was no hero at all. A brave, ill-planned charge through the thickest part of an army in a rescue attempt was dramatic to watch, but people tended not to remember how dramatic a failed attack looked. History was written by the victors, after all. "Donnie was fine," Douglas said firmly.

"What if he wasn't?" Adam asked. "What if he would have died unless I reached him? Would you be mad then?"

 _No_ , Douglas thought reluctantly. _No, I wouldn't._ He would have been devastated if Don had been killed. It would have been too much if he lost Adam, too. It was through sheer luck that the two were alive at all.

Or maybe it wasn't luck. Maybe he should perform an offering ritual to the Gods later to thank Them.

Douglas let the thought go. He hadn't done a ritual like that in years. He wasn't going to start with none of the proper tools in a demon apocalypse. It wasn't the time for religious practices, anyways. He could sit in a Circle, burn candles and pray until the demons found a way into the Lab, but it would offer little but emotional comfort. No, it was time for planning. It was time for strategy.

It was time to plot how to take Mission Creek back from Soad.

"Kevin? How did you do that fear thing?"

Douglas felt himself frown at Adam's question. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't grateful that he had been within the effect's radius. It made things significantly easier. But how did Kevin do it? He looked at his boyfriend curiously.

Kevin, leaning against the wall by the tunnel in order to stay far, _far_ away from Adam, flicked the crucifix on his necklace with a finger. "It's a magical charm. I can turn it on and off."

"Hunters using demon magic?" Douglas asked, furrowing his brow. "Seriously? Isn't that counter-intuitive?"

Kevin smiled. "Using an enemy's weapons against him seems smart to me. Evens the playing field."

"It's a pain in the ass, is what it is," Oly snorted.

Douglas glanced at the imp with an order of silence on his tongue, but he couldn't say it. Oly was sitting on Bree's shoulder, pulling rhinestones off of her possessions, licking them, and sticking more on Bree's cheeks than she did on her own wings. Douglas could see what looked like the beginnings of some sort of swirling symbol on each cheek.

Yahn climbed onto the cyber desk, curling up on Adam's lap. "Ignore her. She's annoying."

" _You're_ annoying, jackass," Oly snapped, sticking a rhinestone on Bree's forehead on a spot known as the third eye.

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Stop fighting."

Both winced, Oly muttering crossly about Summoners and Yahn nodding a bit.

From an opened storage compartment on the floor of the far end of the Lab, Ysthry flew straight up into the Lab proper, her small wings beating rhythmically as she flew towards everyone else and landed on the desk by Adam. "They're done with their number nonsense," explained the imp, yawning. "Master - and his Masters - said that you have four days to last. A week, if you ration."

Douglas blinked, staring at Ysthry for second. "Did they mess up?"

Ysthry twisted her long neck and head around to lick the scales on her back. "That Tasha one did, so they just had her count. But Master and Davenport did the math four times."

Douglas nodded, picked up his ruined mechanical hand, and marched to the retracted floor tile, where he promptly flung the hand down into the hole. He grinned when he heard a yelp. Bullseye.

Kevin frowned. "Why, babe?"

Douglas directed the answer down the hole instead, shouting, "You only stored enough food down here for a week? Are you fucking _stupid_?"

A second passed before Donald snapped his response. "Well, excuse _me_ , clairvoyant genius! I'm sure you saw all the extra people in your mind's eye! If you, Kevin and Perry weren't here, we'd be good for _two_ weeks, easily."

"Let me amend myself," Douglas responded. "You only stored enough food for _two_ weeks? Are you-"

"If you cuss again, I'm going to keep your hand forever," Tasha interrupted. "You already hit me with it. Don't push it."

Douglas winced a bit. Tasha was the _last_ person he wanted his hand to hit. "Don't keep it," he called back. "I can still fix it."

"Too late," Tasha answered. "Mine now."

Kevin laughed a bit. When Douglas glared at him, Kevin shrugged. "You shouldn't have thrown it down there."

His oh-so-loving, supportive boyfriend was about to be locked in a capsule with Adam for an hour, both to assure him Adam wasn't a robot and to torture him a bit.

Speaking of Adam, he frowned and spoke. "I heard something about us starving?"

"Blame Don," Douglas muttered. More loudly, he spoke down the hole again. "How long will the generator last?"

"Indefinitely," Donald answered. "Nuclear-powered."

 _One positive_ , Douglas thought. _We have electricity still._ He smiled slightly. "Well, we might not have to feed Perry. She left to, quote, 'scavenge for supplies,' or loot, about an hour ago."

"It's been that long?" Leo asked, his voice echoing around the storage chamber's walls.

"Gods willing, she's been eaten," Douglas responded casually. "I doubt it, though. She took Xaranthi, too."

"Maybe she has the right idea," Tasha suggested. "We need to start looking for food, too. That means leaving."

"Yeah, but give it a few days for the demons and fire to clear up," Donald responded.

Douglas rolled his eyes and moved back to Adam to check the bandages. Let them argue about logistics. At this very second, he was the medic. And he didn't want infection running rampant. He didn't have any antibiotics to use against it.

Adam winced when Douglas accidentally prodded the cheek wound, grabbing his wrist on impulse. Kevin shifted towards them, paling, but didn't move any closer. Douglas sighed. He'd have to explain the difference between bionics and robots again.

It was a good thing Kevin was so damn sexy, or this would try Douglas' patience.

* * *

 **And there it is. Bree and Hellcat escaped, and the family needs to start scavenging.**

 **What'll Perry steal?**

 **Where will Hellcat and Bree end up?**

 **Will Kevin get over bionics?**

 **We'll just have to wait and see.**

 **So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Meh.**

 **And enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	10. Chapter 10

**Woo, Hatred 10! What's going on in this destroyed town?**

 **Here is normally where I'd answer reviews, but I got none this time, so ya'll don't have to listen to my senseless babbling. Lucky you! :3**

 **So, what's happening? Xaranthi?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"After seeing the devastation on the East coast. I've concluded that Sticks and Stone might break our bones. But Mother Nature can really tear up your stuff."_

 **Stanley Victor Paskavich, _Return to Stantasyland_**

* * *

 _"I think I'll dismember the world and then I'll dance in the wreckage_."

 **Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, _Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes (The Sandman, #1)_**

* * *

 _ **Perry**_

Demonic fires were very, very annoying.

The fire had mostly extinguished itself at that point, but several areas were still smoldering defiantly while a couple of places had small flames greedily burning up the remaining wood structure in what used to be the corners of a few rooms, heating up the startlingly chilly dawn. Perry never was fond of December. It was always nippy until noon, even with the sun up.

Damn winter.

The rest of the house, aside from those few stubborn spots where the walls and some flooring were still standing resolute - or burning slowly - was gone. It had collapsed in on itself. Five stories of plaster, wood and metal had become nothing more than a pile of ash and debris.

All the debris made looting quite hard.

Perry sighed heavily while Xaranthi lowered the piece of wall she had lifted. Practically nothing was left. No valuable jewels or art, no gold or silver pieces, no _anything_. What kind of billionaire didn't keep a fireproof safe full of valuables?

 _A moron_ , she thought irritably.

Xaranthi sat on a bit of rubble, her thick tail wrapping around her legs. "Master, can we go back down to the tunnels? If Lord Soad is out here, then we shouldn't be in the open."

"Lord Soad can go fuck himself," Perry huffed. "I'm not afraid of some 'Lord.' I never have been, and I see no reason to be now."

Xaranthi blinked all of her eyes, frowning. "If you aren't afraid of him, you're a complete moron."

"You're an afrit," Perry pointed out. She carefully scrambled over a charred crossbeam. "You should be braver than me. Aren't you powerful or something?"

"I'm powerful," Xaranthi responded, a few of the larger, more mobile spikes on her back standing up defensively. "Not stupid."

"You're _lazy_ ," Perry corrected. "Get over here and move this crossbeam."

Xaranthi gave a small grimace and got up, growling a bit. "Don't come crying to me when Lord Soad eats you whole." She lifted the crossbeam off of a pile of rubble, the blistered wood crumbling a bit in her claws.

Perry rolled her eyes. "Hold that up until I say so. Oh, and stop complaining."

Xaranthi growled, but stayed quiet.

Perry ducked under the beam, trying to get a glimpse of anything valuable and cursing when she saw nothing. She climbed back out in the open, glaring at the bright mid-morning sun as it crawled obliviously higher in the sky.

Perry was annoyed by it's cheery light. Four of her six cats had been killed, and practically the whole of Mission Creek - as far as she could see - was nothing more than smoldering rubble. No electricity was easily available anymore, which meant no television to entertain her, and no stove or oven to cook meats with and no coffee.

The thought of meat and coffee made her more irritable. When was breakfast happening? She hadn't had any yet, and she was _starving_.

Xaranthi suddenly gasped, laying her ears down in terror as she turned into a mouse and scrambled under some debris. Perry scowled, opening her mouth to order Xaranthi out.

A shadow killed the words in her throat.

A creature so large that a single wing blocked out the sun was flying towards her from quite a distance away. Perry frowned. "Who's that?"

"Lord Soad," Xaranthi squeaked from her hiding place. "Hide, Master!"

Perry almost protested. She _never_ hid from a fight. Better to face it head on, roaring in its face.

When Soad roared - a sound so loud and terrifying that Perry felt like she would drop dead from the sound alone - she figured quickly that there was a first time for everything. Biting down a yelp, Perry dug her way under a pile of debris, laying down on her stomach as ash and dust filled her nostrils and stained her clothes. But it didn't matter at the second. Soad's large shadow was growing larger still. "What does he want?" Perry whispered, shivering.

Xaranthi, still a mouse, hopped onto Perry's hand. "Probably whatever is radiating magic over there." She pointed across the debris field with a paw.

Perry glared. "That could be valuable, and you're just _now_ telling me about it?"

If a mouse could scowl, Xaranthi was doing it. "You didn't ask for my opinion."

Perry opened her mouth to chew the insolent afrit out, but a gust of wind tore the words from her mouth. The weakest sections of wall that were still standing collapsed under the force, giving in to gravity at last. Sparks and ashes - even a few smaller pieces of debris - went flying in the wind as Soad landed amid the rubble with a low growl.

Suddenly, the name "Lord Soad" made sense. The creature was _massive_. She could only see his hind paw clearly, and she figured that she wasn't tall enough to touch the tops of his toes. As for his _claws..._

Perry would call him a lord, too, if it kept her from being on the wrong end of those weapons.

Judging from the shadow, Soad pulled his massive wings into his side, folding them up neatly. He took a few steps, shaking the ground and knocking debris aside like they were nothing more than piles of pebbles. The clouds of ash and dust he kicked up forced her to swallow a fit of coughing. She wasn't about to get caught by that thing.

Whatever that thing looked like.

Suddenly curious, Perry crawled forward as far as she dared. Soad had his head lowered, digging through the rubble. Perry was taken aback by his alien appearance. He was rather like a lion, she decided, if one ignored the multitude of spikes and lack of mane. His paws, wings and tail reminded her of a large dragon, the scales covering his body completing the illusion. It reminded her of...what were those weird Greek creatures again?

Manticore. That was it.

The most striking thing about him were his eyes, though. His scales were the darkest shade of black she'd ever seen. His eyes, though, were bright yellow-orange, standing out against his dark hide like twin suns.

Soad suddenly gasped, his yellowed fangs bared menacingly in a wide grin. Perry scrambled farther back into her hiding place as he delicately picked up what looked like a gold amulet. When Perry saw the size of the ruby in the center of it, she wanted to spring forward and snatch it from the beast. However, one look at those claws was more than enough to keep her still. She wasn't in the mood to be cut in half.

With a triumphant roar so loud that the rubble vibrated (Perry was worried that it would come down on her, trapping her under hundreds of pounds of debris), Soad reared back on his hind paws and spread his wings. The ground shook and debris flew as he hopped a few times and beat his wings, trying to catch a breeze. Perry wasn't any good at physics, but she bet that getting something that size off the ground had to be hard. He finally did it, though. He rose off the ground and into the sky as he flew off, still roaring his triumph.

Perry didn't know how long she waited under the rubble to ensure that Soad was gone. All she knew was that his roars eventually faded, as did the beating of his wings. All that was left was the sound of the wind whistling through the ruined home and the crackling of the remaining fires.

Xaranthi hopped up on a piece of what used to be the couch, wiggling her mouse whiskers. "We should probably tell the others that Lord Soad found Azazel's Bane."

* * *

 _"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."_

 **J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Hobbit_**

* * *

 _"I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad."_

 **Jack Campbell, _Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, #1)_**

* * *

 _ **Samantha**_

The Hunters had obviously been preparing for an assault like this.

Still shaken, Sam held her broken wrist and followed James with the others through the sewers. A woman - Missy, someone had called her - was touching Sam's shoulder. _You're not alone anymore,_ she seemed to say. Around them, the other Hunters were watching sewer openings closely, clutching their guns tightly. The sun was rising outside by now. Sam could see the light leaking in through small cracks and openings in storm drains. It was a slight relief to see something so familiar after such a hellish night.

As their footsteps echoed around the sewers, accented only by the chime of magic from somewhere among the group, Missy decided to break the silence. Keeping her voice gentle and quiet, Missy smiled. "Do you know where your parents are?"

A knot rose in Sam's throat. She swallowed hard before she spoke. "I don't know. Demons were already burning my house down. I don't know if they are even still alive."

Missy nodded grimly. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Sam. They're likely...well...dead."

Sam winced, but nodded. She couldn't make herself say it, but she knew Missy was right. For awhile, they were both silent again.

Finally, James stopped at an intersection between two sewer lines. As everyone else stopped, their echoing footsteps going silent, Sam frowned. "What-"

James held up a hand to cut her off.

Sam's question withered in her throat, and she stayed quiet this time. After a moment, the faint echoes of sobbing reached her ears. _More survivors?_ she thought. She couldn't be the only one, after all.

James turned to Missy. "Get her to the main tunnel. We'll meet you there." Then, without waiting for a response, he trotted ahead, motioning for the group to follow.

Once he and the others had walked away, leaving Sam alone with Missy, the woman squeezed her shoulders and gestured at the connecting tunnel. "Come on, sweety. You should get your wrist checked."

Sam frowned as they turned the corner and started for whatever the main tunnel was. "We're going to live in a sewer?"

"Only for a few days," Missy assured her. "Once the demons are called off, we'll move to an area outside of Mission Creek."

"Once the demons are called off?" Sam echoed, feeling a bit naïve. "By who?"

Missy's expression grew angry suddenly. "By the ones who called them to Earth in the first place." She seemed to spit the words, obviously angered. "That godless, backwards-assed, greedy, stupid, evil, demon-worshipping _Summoner's Council!_ None of this would be happening if they left those disgusting creatures in Hell!"

Sam winced. Maybe staying here wasn't safe after all. If someone recognized her from the slaughter at the junkyard a while ago, they'd crucify her for sure.

O _nce it's safe to go above ground,_ Sam decided grimly, _I'll run_. She had no clue where she would go, or how she'd survive until she got there, but it had to be safer than being a demon's friend amongst the full force of Mission Creek's Hunters.

Right?

Surely.

* * *

 **And there ya have it, Hatred 10.**

 **Next up, Hellcat and Bree!**

 **So, until then, enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	11. Chapter 11

**Hatred 11? So soon?**

 **Yep. Yay!**

 **Mia Teresa Davenport: *Sam's wondering if he'll ever come back***

 **So, who's turn? Bree?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers"**

* * *

 _"A fire's gotta burn. The world is gonna turn. A rain has gotta fall. Fate is gonna call, but I just keep on breathing, 'long as my heart is beating. Someone's gotta hate; it's never gonna change. Gets harder everyday. It's a hell of a place to keep your heart from freezing, to keep yourself believing...But I won't run. I'm not ashamed. It's gonna take more than this for me to break!..."_

 **Halestorm, "Amen"**

* * *

 _"...It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to...I'll cry until the candles burn down this place! I'll cry until my pity party's in flames!..."_

 **Melanie Martinez, "Pity Party"**

* * *

 ** _Chase_**

You know what finally occurred to me?

Let me drop this occurrence on you.

Or whatever "cool" kids say.

Anyways, I was forcing the wind to carry me for a bit so I didn't have to flap my wings so often - sweet relief - while Bree was in some meditative state, light as a feather. I didn't want to break her concentration, so I kept quiet and focused on flying.

And I was _bored_.

 _So_ bored.

It was a bit into this boredom that the little voice in my head proposed a game of riddles.

I like riddles and logic puzzles. They're great fun. And the little voice in my head was surprisingly good at it. It's riddles were complicated, and it could think through mine. And, it was in the middle of this entertaining game that the aforementioned revelation happened.

The voice in my head was _stronger_ here. It was much more talkative, and, after a while, I could distinguish genders.

Yep, genders. It was a gender-fluid little thing. Male one moment, female the next, randomly alternating between the two. It was definitely a bit surprising that anything that was a part of me was feminine.

I was part girl! I had no idea!

I see you rolling your eyes. Leave me alone. I had a long day.

That wasn't even the strangest part. I got over my newly-discovered inner-lady (seriously, no one tell Adam) after a while only to discover that I seemed to be going somewhere. I didn't know why, or where it was, but I instinctively winged my way towards whatever it was.

I wanted to be there.

I _had_ to be there.

It was like someone tied a rope around my neck and was tugging me in that direction. It was vital that I end up there and do stuff.

Wherever there was. And whatever the stuff I needed to do was. I had no idea, and my voice didn't seem to, either. Honestly, I would've kept going forever. At least, I would until I reached it.

I had to be there.

Unfortunately for me, wings get tired, as did I. The moons were setting and the forest had thinned out to grasslands when I finally landed, setting Bree down carefully before touching down myself and pulling my wings in against my back. Honestly, I thought I did pretty good, considering that I'd never carried someone before.

Bree snapped out of her memories the second her feet were on the ground. After an inspection of our new surroundings, she turned to me. "Why are we stopping?"

I rolled my eyes. "I can't fly forever, you know."

"But the farther we go, the faster we leave," Bree reasoned.

"There's no set place to visit that will take us home," I hissed. "We're on our own until we get creative enough to find a way out."

Bree narrowed her eyes. "You mean we're stuck here? Without any kind of food, shelter, or protection? Me with no bionics, and you with your weak ones? No way out? No nothing? Just endless hordes of demons that will eventually tear us to pieces? That's _perfect_."

I pinned my ears, ignoring the various suggestions of my voice. "Want to try that again without the _sarcasm?"_

Bree ignored me, starting to pace. "If it wasn't for your stupid plan to fight a losing war, neither of us would be here!"

Wait, what? "What losing war?"

Bree stopped and rounded on me. "You're supposed to be the smartest man alive! How is it that you're too stupid to see it? Those back-and-forth battles and attacks against the Hunters were as useless as Douglas' war against the government!"

I bared my fangs a bit, lashing my half-tail. "Are you high or some shit? When the Hunters are gone-"

" _More will pop up in their place,_ " Bree basically spat, interrupting me. "There will _always_ be Hunters! You can kill every last one of them, but I promise that more will come eventually! You can't win!"

I hissed. Maybe it was my frustration that she forced me to acknowledge something I had subconsciously always known, or possibly her doubt at my ability to accomplish something, but I suddenly wanted to rip her a new one. "Listen here, you little shit: Those assholes are killing demons - some of whom are my friends - without provocation! You bet your ass, I'm going to fight until-"

"They kill you?" Bree snorted, cutting me off. "Is that what you're going for?"

"Hell no," I huffed.

"I doubt they're doing this unprovoked," Bree went on. "I'm willing to bet that demons have hurt many of them in some way or another. Hell, one tore my soul out of my body and threw me here, _unprovoked_. Maybe the Hunters have the right idea!"

Ouch. _Ouch_. Way to swing low, Bree. Damn. Demons were selfish assholes, but we didn't deserve to be exterminated. Not all of us were bad. In fact, quite a few I've met were pretty reasonable.

 _You should've left her up the tree,_ the voice, female this time, said. _Ungrateful whelp_.

 _I_ was a demon. Half of one, anyways. Did she think I deserved to die for that?

Bree fidgeted after a moment, seeming to read my thoughts. "I didn't mean you."

I growled lowly. "What about Yahn? And Ysthry? Oly, even? Do _they_ deserve to die just because they're demons?"

Bree's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. "No, but-"

"What about the demons who helped me when I first turned? Do _they_ deserve to die?"

Bree was obviously becoming upset. "Hellcat-"

"We're demons," I spat. "There's nothing we can do about it. No magical spell exists to change it. We just are. We can't be anything else. _How_ can we be anything else? But you still think the Hunters are right to commit genocide?"

Bree shook her head, clearly ashamed.

"We're not all like the asshole who sent you here," I growled. "Don't lump us all in with that guy just because you're upset you're here. Oh, and I could do without the insults about my bionics."

"Why do you get yours when I don't?" Bree huffed sullenly.

"Probably because I'm physically here. Your body is bionic, not your soul. And your body is back on Earth."

Bree scowled, muttering, "Back on Earth with food, and my capsule, and running water. And-"

"You can quit bitching, too," I interrupted. "It'd be appreciated."

Bree narrowed her eyes at me. "You'd be bitching, too. I wasn't prepared to come here. I didn't have time to think about it. I was just thrown in a deadly situation without a hint of a warning. You can't possibly understand what that's like. You just walk in here like everything's fine, and you expect me not to-"

"I don't understand?" I echoed, growling. "You _can't_ be serious." When Bree rolled her eyes, I almost slapped her. Instead, I clenched my fists and hissed, "You think you're the only one that's dealt with an impossible situation? How do you think I felt when I first changed? When I spent the first night alone in a _dumpster_ during a _thunderstorm_ because I have this stupid little voice in my head that's telling me to kill you? I was fucking _terrified_."

Bree's expression turned to complete surprise. I had never talked about my time alone before. "Chase-"

"Let me finish!" I snapped. "I had to spread twenty dollars over a week, so I was cold and hungry almost constantly. I slept in dumpsters, I begged a bit, I mugged a couple of guys and stole from random people. I spent some time in Seattle to avoid being found because my voice was still there. I might've hurt you. And I didn't even know you were looking for me, so what was the point of going back, right?"

Bree winced. "You don't have to-"

"I was arrested for attempting to steal clean clothing," I went on like she hadn't spoke. "Jail is _scary_ , by the way. Got myself out, luckily. Started pulling scams for money, was mugged several times, and ended up eating out of dumpsters just to survive! I was thrown into a role I didn't understand, and I had to figure it out alone. So don't you _dare_ tell me that I don't understand."

Bree's face was a study in horrified revulsion. "I had no idea."

"Because I didn't want you to," I responded. "I could've kicked and screamed about how unfair it was, but I adapted instead. Now, it's your turn. Adapt to the situation, or die out here. Up to you."

Bree swallowed hard, nodding. She was looking at the ground now, clearly ashamed. After a long moment, she nodded again, looking at me. "Okay. But I maintain that we need to eat."

I nodded. That _was_ a problem. Where did one find food in a place where the inhabitants didn't eat?

 _When you remember that you're surrounded by essence,_ my voice, now male, said dryly, _I'll make you a large feast._

...Oh...Embarrassing. "Bree?"

"Yeah?"

"We're surrounded by essence. We could've just made food this whole time."

Bree's brow furrowed for a second. She experimentally made a grab at nothing only to have a hamburger in her hand not seconds later, made of essence and snatched out of the sky. She stared at it for a second before scowling. "Seriously? It was that easy this whole time?"

I nodded, shrugging.

Bree glared at the burger for a second longer before kicking a dirt clod, frustrated that she didn't think of it herself.

I couldn't help myself. I started laughing, even when the next clump of sod she kicked hit me, a sign that she blamed me for not telling her earlier.

The masculine voice felt the need to speak up. _You're going to kick her ass for that, right?_

I brushed the dirt off of my shirt. _Nah._

* * *

 **There we go. Hatred 11.**

 **Up next, Mission Creek!**

 **Woo!**

 **Until then, enjoy.**

 ***Bows and Exits***


	12. Chapter 12

**And we're back with Hatred 12.**

 **Woohoo!**

 **j. liz. 8 : You might not like me by the end of this, then. ._.**

 **AzulaTano : Lol I'm gonna use demon-lord Perry now. :P And thank you kindly. Made me all warm and fuzzy inside. (Between you and me, I think a lot of people share a biased love towards Douglas. Underdogs and what-not.)**

 **So, let's go! Oly?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"When the night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we'll see, no, I won't be afraid. Oh, I won't be afraid, just as long as you stand, stand by me..."_

 **Ki Theory, "Stand By Me"**

* * *

 _"Irrational fear feeds on itself and grows. You must deny it."_

 **Dean Koontz, _Brother Odd (Odd Thomas, #3)_**

* * *

 _ **Kevin**_

 _Stay over there,_ * Kevin thought, watching Adam wearily. _Stay_ way _over there._

Why him? Why did everything have to happen to _him?_ Between the ex-boyfriend that got him hooked on amphetamines (may that asshole rot in prison), Soad trapping everyone down in the Lab (with a _bionic robot person_ , no less), and Douglas' insistence on being right beside Adam (when Adam grabbed Douglas' wrist impulsively, Kevin had to resist the urge to take a few shots at Adam with the laser gun Donald had given him), Kevin was _really_ wished his anxiety medicine hadn't burned. He could've certainly used it right then. It would help him think through the problem. Adam had always been nice, but...

Well, _bionic robot kid._ No matter how much Douglas explained the difference between robotics and bionics, Kevin couldn't shake the idea that Adam was an evil robot thing. He had gears, wires, and a chip. Just like _robots._ Everyone knew robots were going to take over the world and destroy humanity someday.

Kevin could barely handle an ATM. Of _course,_ he'd end up locked in a lab with someone - something? - more advanced.

If there was a God, He certainly hated Kevin.

Across the Lab, Adam yawned before wincing, the bandage on his cheek shifting slightly. Kevin wondered fleetingly if he would see gears if he looked down Adam's throat. He shuddered. At least Bree was locked in her charging capsule thing. Kevin didn't think he'd be able to handle both of them.

In the center of the Lab, Perry was practically flailing her arms about. Something about manticores, Soad and a thing called Azazel's Bane. Kevin wasn't focused on her. He wanted to keep an eye on Adam. He knew how it'd go down. Kevin turned around only to get killed by some robotic laser. It wasn't about to go down like that. _Hell_ no.

Not that Adam had lasers. Still, though.

A sudden statement from Douglas caught Kevin's attention. "We're screwed. Everyone find a partner so we can shoot each other."

Kevin frowned, finally looking away from Adam to study his boyfriend. "Really, now?"

Douglas shrugged hopelessly. "If he has Azazel's Bane, we can't hurt him." He spread his arms wide, his voice laced with despair. "It's game over. That's it. We're done. I'd rather shoot myself than end up like _that_." He pointed at Bree, who just stared blankly ahead, the rhinestone pattern on her face glittering a bit with each breath she took.

 _I missed one hell of a conversation,_ Kevin thought, looking at everyone. They looked pale, terrified, and just as hopeless as Dougie. Even the imps were visibly shaken. He was quiet for a moment before snorting. "You _can't_ be serious. After that fight we just survived, you're all ready to give up just like that?"

Everyone shot him a startled look. Leo cleared his throat. "But Soad has Azazel's Bane. Magical attacks can't hurt him."

"Yeah? That doesn't make him invincible," Kevin rebutted, crossing his arms.

"You're not listening, dumbass," Oly growled as the other imps nodded their agreement. " _Nothing can hurt him._ "

"From what Leo just said, nothing _magical_ can hurt him," Kevin responded. "I bet that a silver bullet in his eye will still put him down. Or someone cutting a major artery. Something that _isn't_ magic."

Perry pointed at him. "No one could get _close_ enough for a shot without him knowing. He's _huge._ Tall enough to see for miles, I bet. And don't say you'll do it, because you'd just curl up and cry."

"I didn't say anyone should go," Kevin snapped. Damn woman.

After an uncomfortable silence in which he and Perry glared at each other, Xaranthi yawned. Her rows of teeth gleamed dully in the light as she sat, stretching a bit. Soad had hundreds like her, for sure. Djinn and imps, too. Kevin had no doubt that Soad would quickly figure out that killing Summoners depleted his army and would start taking captives. He could make them summon even more demons.

How did one fight an endless army?

Finally, Kevin looked at everyone. "I don't know how to fight him yet. I doubt anyone does. But he is _far_ from invincible. We just need an idea. Oh, and silver. A lot of silver."

"He probably already destroyed all of the silver he could get his hands on," Donald pointed out.

Kevin grinned. Knowing Hunter secrets was useful. "There's one silver cache I bet he didn't find."

"Oh, where?" Adam asked excitedly, practically bouncing on the cyber desk as Yahn clung to his thigh to keep himself from falling.

"Well, that's the hard part," Kevin explained awkwardly. "It's in an emergency base in the sewers. Every surviving Hunter in Mission Creek will be there, likely armed to the teeth and on a hairpin trigger."

"So?" Douglas' eyes lit up. "Just drop a bomb down there, wait for the explosion, then walk right in past the corpses. Easy."

"That's also where they're supposed to take any survivors they find," Kevin added, fixing Douglas with a look.

"So no bombs," Donald immediately said. "We'll have to think of another way in."

Douglas sighed. "But I _like_ bombs."

"But the innocent civilians," Tasha responded in the same petulant tone.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Look, we'll think of something. Until then-"

Adam sneezed violently right that moment, cutting Kevin off and sending Yahn crashing to the floor.

The part that bothered Kevin about that? When Adam sneezed, _lasers_ shot out of his eyes and dissipated harmlessly against the wall.

Despite himself, Kevin found himself screaming.

Fucking _robots with lasers._ The end was near!

When Perry started laughing in the background, Kevin bit down another scream. Douglas crossed the Lab and touched Kevin's shoulder with his remaining hand. "It's okay," he said. "Deep breaths, babe. It's okay."

Kevin shuddered, glancing at Adam again. If there was a God, he hated Kevin.

* * *

 _"All men are prophets, or else God does not exist."_

 **Jean-Paul Sartre**

* * *

 _"Our souls are but leaves in a storm, and only the Gods know where we will come to rest."_

 **David Gemmell, _Lion of Macedon (Greek Series, #1)_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

She understood the need to sleep, now that she had calmed down.

What she _didn't_ understand was Chase's insistence on sleeping practically against her.

His mastery of essence control was unquestionable. He had basically created a small shelter out of the essence of the grass and the air, just big enough for them to sleep in but small enough to stay relatively hidden. The problem with that was that Chase had his back almost pressed against her. Hell, his half-tail was resting over one of her legs, the tip twitching slowly as he dreamed.

Bree, however, couldn't sleep. Wherever the daylight of Otherworld came from, it was _bright._ Add that to Chase's proximity, and she was having issues settling down. And, with the issues she had drifting off, she started to think.

The situation was hellish.

Bree had done nothing to deserve being sent here. _Nothing_. Still, the asshole demon had thought that she was the perfect person to send to that...that... _hellhole_ of a world. It was horrible. The demons were just so _savage._ They were smart creatures. Why were they living like animals? Where was the civilization she would have expected them to build? Where was all the law and order of demons? It would likely be more brutal, but still. They lived like _animals._ It was disgusting. For creatures so advanced, they were backwards as hell.

Chase mumbled, pulling his wings in tighter to his back before settling again. Bree sighed. Maybe he was so close because he didn't want her to go missing. Maybe he just wanted someone close, since he was used to Oly sleeping next to him more often than not. Bree didn't know. She didn't really care. It was odd that her little brother insisted on being that close.

He started purring in his sleep, making Bree roll her eyes and focus on the ceiling of the shelter. She would give anything to be in her capsule back home. Anything, _anything,_ to be caught in the center of a normal prank war between her brothers, or on a mission. That, she could handle. She knew how to handle it.

However, _this_ , she didn't know how to handle.

Stupid demons. Why didn't some of the larger demons take charge? It was total chaos here! There was no order! How could they stand it?

After a moment, she sighed. Her job was not to reform the society of Otherworld. She just wanted to go home. Home with her family, and her friends, and her less-than-perfect life...

She had wanted out sometimes. She would _kill_ for it now. Especially now that Chase had confirmed what she was fearing the first day she was here. Neither of them knew any possible way out.

He was partially wrong. He _had_ a way out. Someone could summon him, and he'd be back home. She, however, was stuck there. That was, unless...

Unless she'd come out of this experience part-demon, too.

Bree shuddered. She didn't want that. She didn't want to sprout horns or something strange. How would she explain it to everyone? That wasn't how this would end, would it? She hoped not. Chase might be okay with it, but she sure wasn't.

Actually, since he had exploded on her earlier, she knew that any transformation she went through would be considerably easier than his had been. She would be able to get used to it at home, with him as a kind of guide into the new world. He had had nobody. _Why hadn't he come home?_ Bree thought for what had to be the hundredth time since he told his story. It would've been easier for him.

It was in the middle of these worries that she started to drift into sleep. Her dreams were filled with demonic violence and horrifying scenarios of dying people. The worst part of the dreams? Chase was a part of the demons, not the people.

And he was just as excited as the rest of them at the sight of suffering. As she watched, he jumped on a kid, pulled her chin back, and bit out her throat with his teeth before grinning at Bree, blood dripping down his chin. A scream died in Bree's throat as he held the limp child's body towards her. "Want a bite?"

Bree screamed at that moment as something grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. After a moment, she snapped her eyes open only for her entire vision to be filled with Chase's face. She let out another scream, causing him to pin his ears and hiss in pain, backing up from her to cover his ears. "What the hell?" he hissed loudly at her. "The fuck is your problem?"

Bree sat up, frowning when she noticed that his face wasn't bloody at all. The memories of the dream started to fade. He hadn't torn the life from that kid. He wouldn't ever do that.

Would he?

He was a demon, after all. What if, one day, he gave in to that violent instinct? _Could_ he hurt someone like that?

Chase rubbed his ears a few more times before fixing Bree with a sour look. "If you're done hurting my ears, the moons are rising. We should go."

Bree frowned. "We're going to travel at night?"

"Why not?" Chase defended. "Sleeping demons don't eat people."

"But what if they're not asleep?" Bree protested. "Some have to be awake."

"Would you rather go when _all_ of them are awake?" Chase snorted. When Bree was silent, he flicked his ears. "Then let's go."

Bree watched him crawl out of the shelter, frowning. "And _where_ are we going?"

Chase shrugged. "No idea. I just think we need to go that way." He pointed in a random direction.

Bree frowned deeper as she crawled out to join him. "And what do you think is _that_ way?"

"No idea," Chase answered before trotting off, his tail swaying.

Bree followed him wearily. What if he had been right when he first turned? What if the voice in his head could control him?

What if it - and, by proxy, Chase - was leading her to her death?

Bree shook the thought away immediately. _This is Chase,_ she reminded herself firmly _. He wouldn't hurt me._ It was just the nightmare that was bothering her. It was nothing, she was sure.

* * *

 **So, was it nothing but the stress of the situation that made Bree dream that?**

 **Or was it something else?**

 **And will Kevin every calm down?!**

 **We'll just have to wait and see.**

 **So, until then, enjoy.**

 ***Bows and exits***


	13. Chapter 13

**Bree?**

 **"** **Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"_ _There is always a part of my mind that is preparing for the worst, and another part of my mind that believes if I prepare enough for it, the worst won't happen."_

 **Kay Redfield Jamison**

* * *

 _"_ _I thought about how there are two types of secrets: The kind you_ want _to keep in, and the kind you don't_ dare _to let out."_

 **Ally Carter,** ** _Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls, #3)_**

* * *

 ** _Samantha_**

In the days that followed the attack, the training began.

Sam counted sixty-three survivors who had made it to the sewers - several injured or in shock, sobbing and pale as they were lead off to be treated as best as they could be - when the Hunters laid down the law.

The police, fire department, and hospital were gone. Wiped out entirely.

The military will be coming, but an army of demons would likely end that small hope in days. They were clever, and soldiers had no training on how to fight them.

The family members they couldn't find were likely dead or had scattered out of town. They were long gone.

The demons were undoubtedly still on the surface. There was no point in going out. Not yet.

In fact, only Hunters were allowed to come and go. Everyone else would be learning how to fight demons. If they were old enough - and well enough - to hold a weapon, they would be learning how to use it.

They could cry all they wanted. They could resist training, or complain, or refuse to fight outright. No one would care. It wouldn't fix a damn thing. Their lives would never be the same. They could move forward into their new lives, or be left behind.

That wasn't to say that everyone would become warriors. Some would become scouts. Some would be medics. A few, distributing and rationing supplies. A couple would be caring for the children who were too young to be trained.

All, however, would have to learn to defend themselves.

It was at this point that Sam was grateful that she had begged her mother for shooting lessons. She couldn't hit a target accurately any farther away than twenty feet, but she was doing better than a few others. However, when it came to knives and fists, Sam fell behind. She wasn't a strong girl. There was never a reason for her to be before. Add that to her broken wrist – they Hunters had stabilized and wrapped it as best as they could – and she wasn't fending well in hand-to-hand.

Practically everyone, though, hated building endurance. Carrying fifty pounds and running through the sewer tunnels was hell. Sam understood the importance of physical fitness when fighting battles, but she often wondered if she would even survive the training. It only took the first two tunnels of the morning run to wipe her – everyone – out.

She was doing better than the Summoners, though.

Any recognized – or stupidly confessed – Summoner was always lead out of the main tunnel by a group. Ten minutes later, _boom._ Gunshot, then silence. The group came back without the Summoner soon after, their expressions grim.

Only three had been executed in this manner, but Sam was determined that no one else would be. _Especially_ her. She wasn't a Summoner, but she wasn't really on the Hunters' side, either. Who knew what they would do if they found out about her friendship with Chase?

The only real relief she got from these thoughts – if it could be described as a relief – was the distracting hum of magic that radiated off of every initiated Hunter. It seemed odd to her. These people who were so against demons were somehow using demonic magic. What kind, she couldn't tell. Her ears weren't that sharp. But she knew it was around, and its constant noise was starting to give her a constant _headache._

It was fine, though. She could put up with all the noise, the secrets, and the training. Because, even though it sucked, it had to be worse on the surface. Until that cleared up, she was stuck in the sewers for her own safety.

Once it _did_ clear up, though, she would be above ground and far, far away from the militarized demon-slaying maniacs. Her only problem was how she would manage to get enough supplies to sustain herself until she found a new safe haven.

 _Chase would have an answer_ , Sam thought to herself, trudging along behind Missy with some others, breathing heavily from the exertion. He was the planning guy. He could have an answer for almost anything instantly.

Sam let herself sigh. She wished – not for the first time – that her friend was there with her.

Missy looked back over her shoulder at the sigh, obviously mistaking its meaning. "Look alive, Samantha," she said. "Demons won't stop chasing you just because you're tired." Then, she turned her attention back ahead of the group.

Sam _was_ tired, but it would fade after a while. Chase, however, wasn't coming back anytime soon. She was on her own this time.

* * *

 _"…_ _There's no kindness in your eyes. The way you look at me is just not right. I can tell what's going on this time. There's a stranger in my life. You're not the person that I once knew. Are you scared to let them know it's you? If they could only see you like I do, then they would see a stranger, too…."_

 **Hilary Duff, "Stranger"**

* * *

 _"…_ _Fear is ever-changing and evolving, and I have been poisoned inside, but I, I feel so alive! Nobody can save me now…."_

 **Imagine Dragons, "Battle Cry"**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

Chase was definitely going somewhere.

In the nights that followed her rescue, Bree found that Chase seemed more and more focused on a single direction. She had no idea where the cardinal directions were in relation to her – who knew which direction the moons rose from here? – and had no idea which way they were travelling as a result, but he seemed to know.

In fact, he seemed very determined to be there.

With each passing night, Chase grew more eager to go. He started rousing her earlier in the evening, putting off stopping until later in the morning, and even picked up the pace. He was visibly agitated every time he had to stop to let the pain from his limp subside, and he often lashed his tail when morning rolled around and they stopped to sleep. He went from fun, playful conversations to short, irritated snippets when she provoked him to speak, as if she was wasting his time. All of this, coupled with the recurring nightmare of him biting out a child's throat, had Bree…well….

She was unsettled, to say the least.

Chase brought her out of her thoughts by hissing loudly when he found a shallow, hidden hole with his foot and stumbled. His tail lashed wildly to keep him balanced until he regained his footing, glaring at the hole the whole time. Bree frowned at the way he was now favoring his bad leg. All the walking over the past few days couldn't have been good for him. "Listen," she began, "maybe we should take a break for a few days so that –"

"I'm fine," Chase huffed. "We can't stop. We have to hurry."

"Hurry?" Bree tilted her head. "Hurry to where?"

"I don't know, but we need to get there," Chase answered, dusting off his shirt like it would help him.

 _He's just following his gut?_ Bree was even more confused now. He never did anything without knowing exactly _why_ he was doing it. "Chase, seriously, whatever's so important about this place can wait for a few days."

"It's not going to, though," Chase argued, "because we're not stopping for a few days. Come _on."_

Okay, it was time to put her foot down. "At least stop for a few minutes, then."

Chase ignored her, already starting to hobble off.

Bree ground her teeth. There was _no way_ he was going to act like he didn't hear her. She strode forward and grabbed his shoulder. "Chase-"

He whipped around, roaring loudly. Bree yelped and jumped back from him just as his fangs snapped closed, missing her fingers by inches. His ears were pinned as his roar dissolved into a threatening growl, his fangs still bared and his wings out slightly to make himself appear larger as he lashed his tail. His eyes flashed, the slit pupils adding the illusion that Chase was nothing more than a wild animal.

Bree backed up several steps, swallowing hard. She had only ever been this afraid of him a few times: When he created the illusion that the Lab – and the entire universe – had dissolved into a vortex he somehow conjured up. And don't even get her started on Spike in general.

She wasn't going to have to _fight_ him, was she?

After a second, Chase's eyes seemed to glaze over a bit. Then, he perked his ears and straightened up, frowning. He seemed a bit disturbed, to be honest. "Sorry. You surprised me."

"That was one hell of a reaction," Bree huffed.

Chase sighed. "Maybe we _should_ rest for a few days. I'm probably just tired or something."

Bree raised her eyebrow. "Probably?"

Chase just shrugged and sat, concentrating on making a little shelter with essence, leaving Bree more confused than ever.

If he was normal now, what just happened? Did it have something to do with wherever the hell they were going? Would he get worse as they got closer?

Bree hoped not as she sat beside him. She didn't want to have to end up stabbing him with a stick to save herself from her deranged demon of a brother.


	14. Chapter 14

**Mia Teresa Davenport:** **(It's fine. Seriously. :3)**

 ***He's really not***

 **Adam?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"Tension, in the long run, is a more dangerous force than any feud known to man."_

 **Criss Jami,** ** _Killosophy_**

* * *

 _"Tension is the Mirror of our Past"_

 **Saab**

* * *

 ** _Adam_**

"It doesn't look too bad," Yahn reassured quietly. "At least you still have both eyes. The left one's turning milky white, but that one's not important, anyways."

Adam sighed. Carefully watching everyone outside his capsule in case they woke up - except for Kevin, who, though obviously exhausted, was watching Adam while rubbing Douglas' back (Douglas had fallen asleep practically on top of Kevin, his head resting just below Kevin's chin, much to Perry's displeasure) - he rubbed Yahn's head and whispered, "Perfect. I'm going to have a ghost eye."

"Ghost eyes don't matter," Yahn responded. "I've known hundreds of blind people with ghostly eyes. They did just fine."

"They can't see it," Adam muttered. "One of my eyes still works. I'll know _exactly_ how ugly I look."

Yahn frowned. "You've never cared about how you looked before. Why start now?"

 _Because I'm going to be disfigured by scars,_ Adam thought miserably. The injuries on his face were covered by bandages now, but they soon wouldn't be. No one had let him see when they changed the bandages, but Douglas' grimaces weren't reassuring. He wished he had thought to curl up like Mr. Davenport had. Adam could stand to lose a few fingers. He didn't use his pinky all that much. His _eye_ , though...

He had never felt so useless before. He couldn't even see Bree in her capsule anymore without turning his head. What if someone decided to sneak up on him? _Then_ what?

Yahn tilted his head. "Are you upset because they won't let you go with them in the morning?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," Adam muttered stubbornly. "I can still go to the surface."

Yahn climbed onto Adam's shoulder and patted his head. "Of course, you can. They know that."

Adam crossed his arms. "Then why am I stuck here?"

"Because they want you to heal before you risk your neck anymore," Yahn answered, basically repeating the argument Tasha had used to keep both Adam and Mr. Davenport from going to the surface in the morning with Kevin, Douglas and Perry.

Adam glared at Douglas' repaired false hand as it rested on the cyber desk. _Maybe if I smashed it, he would have to stay, too_. Adam decided against it, though. Watching Douglas and Mr. Davenport squabble over the past few days while trying to fix it had gotten on Adam's nerves.

Then again, practically everything did now.

Maybe it was that everyone was cooped up in the same room for several days, but tempers were on a much shorter fuse than usual. Perry and Kevin looked ready to fight a couple of times. Tasha snapped more frequently at any and every one. Mr. Davenport and Douglas were on a basic hair trigger with each other. Leo had even chewed Oly out for a second for bothering Ysthry, which had everyone yelling eventually. The only calm one was Bree, who watched everything with unchanging indifference.

Kevin's head dipped down as exhaustion overwhelmed him, finally forcing him to sleep. Adam was instantly relieved. He hated being watched like he was a threat. He rubbed Yahn's ears and smiled, closing his own eyes.

A few minutes later, just as Adam was dozing off, he heard shuffling. Normally, it was Kevin trying to stay awake, but it was coming from the wrong direction tonight. Adam opened his good eye slightly to see Leo carefully crossing the Lab, obviously trying not to wake anybody up.

Adam frowned. What was Leo doing? Getting a snack, maybe? If so, why hadn't he invited Adam? He was hungry, too. However, Leo wasn't heading for the storage area. Instead, he opened the tunnel, glanced around to make sure no one had woken up, and went outside, carrying Ysthry in his arms.

Confused, Adam opened his capsule and bolted quietly after him. Leo had left the tunnel open to allow himself to enter again without waking someone up to open said door, allowing Adam to leave without risking alerting the others.

Yahn frowned as Adam followed Leo down the darker tunnel. He climbed up onto Adam's shoulder and leaned close to his ear, making almost no sound. "Where is he going?"

Adam shrugged, watching as Leo disappeared up the stairs. He heard some rustling before everything was silent again. Concerned and confused, Adam approached the stairs. Suddenly, he understood where the rustling had come from. A pile of charred debris covered the stairs, almost completely blocking it. The only way through was to climb it and squeeze through a space towards the top. With a sigh, Adam scrambled up the pile. Yahn hopped onto the rubble and trotted through the hole easily.

Adam, on the other hand, had a few problems.

The hole was large enough to accommodate him, but finding hand holds was a problem. Debris kept shifting out from under him, sliding of falling back down the pile with loud clattering. Any element of surprise he had was definitely gone now. Adam sighed as he pushed his way through the hole at the top and climbed down the pile on the other side. The closer to the bottom he got, the more he could taste fresh air.

He didn't know he'd missed it until that moment.

At the base of the pile, Yahn flew back up onto Adam's shoulder, pointing at the shadowy figure sitting in the entrance of the stairs. Adam frowned. Something was off about the scene, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He cautiously approached the figure – undoubtedly Leo – and studied the surroundings closely, confused. What was different? Why was it different? It wasn't until he actually reached Leo that he finally figured it out.

The stairs opened up to a debris field now, not the house. What was normally a wall was nothing but an opening to the outdoors. What was more, there was no light but the stars and the moon. No street lights, no house lights, no car headlights, _nothing._ It was unusual.

Leo glanced at him, obviously a bit relieved. "I wondered who was back there."

"Were you expecting Mr. Davenport?" Adam asked, frowning.

"Big D would just start yelling as soon as he saw me," Leo answered. "Mom would, too. I was expecting Oly or Yahn to come and drag me back." He looked at Yahn. "I was kind of right."

Yahn shrugged. "I don't have orders to drag you back, as you put it."

Adam rubbed under Yahn's chin. "Why are you even out here?"

Leo pointed at the sky outside quietly. Adam followed his finger to see Ysthry flying wildly outside, performing intricate acrobatics that almost defied physics. "She wanted to stretch her wings," Leo said to explain. "I just had to get out of there for a bit. It was getting claustrophobic."

"Claustro-what?" Adam asked, furrowing his brow. The word confused him.

Leo was probably rolling his eyes. "Too crowded and small. I needed open space and fresh air for a bit."

Adam nodded, understanding.

Yahn hopped off of Adam's shoulder and started digging through some rubble curiously, his tail flicking. Adam smiled, glad he wasn't the only one who felt like getting a bit of exercise. He looked around, his smile fading into a frown when he finally saw that the entire neighborhood was just like the old mansion: Burned rubble. "What happened?"

"Demons," Leo answered with a shrug. "Did you think they just attacked us?"

"I didn't think they levelled everything," Adam defended himself. "I figured they'd only burn down a few places."

"Nope," Leo confirmed. "They destroyed everything."

Adam winced. "Wonderful." He looked around, wondering if any dead bodies were trapped beneath the ruins of Mission Creek for a fleeting second before he forced the thought away. Some of his friends might be stuck under beams, and he didn't want to think about it. Speaking of under, Adam looked at the street. "Where do you think the Hunter sanctuary is?"

"Under the street somewhere near James' house?" Leo suggested, shrugging. "He was the leader."

"Why in the sewers, though?" Adam wrinkled his nose at the thought.

"Because who would think to look down there?" Leo answered. "I wouldn't have thought of it if Kevin hadn't mentioned something."

Adam rolled his eyes at the name. "Pretty sure Kevin hates me."

"Not hates," Leo tried. "Just fears."

"I'm not a robot, though," Adam huffed. "I'm _bionic._ "

"I don't think he acknowledges the difference," Leo responded. "Computer chip and metal parts means robot to him."

"It shouldn't," Adam muttered, watching as Ysthry flew so high that she became nothing more than a speck in the sky before she pulled her wings in and dropped straight down like an arrow.

"Douglas will fix the problem, I'm sure. Until then, I'd be messing with him." Leo grinned. "Oh, I'm a scary robot! I'm going to take over the world! _You're first, human!_ "

Adam started laughing. "That would just piss Douglas off."

"So?"

Adam was about to point out that an angry Douglas was a dangerous Douglas, but Ysthry interrupted them by squeaking excitedly and landing on Leo's shoulder. "They're coming, they're coming!"

" _Who's_ coming?" Leo asked, confused.

"That military thing!" Ysthry answered excitedly. "With those big gun cars that shoot missiles and the flying things!"

Adam and Leo both frowned and stayed silent, straining their ears. Sure enough, after a few minutes, the thrum of a helicopter could be heard. _Thank God,_ Adam thought. _The military will handle Soad._ A well-placed missile would send him packing for sure.

"Should we tell everyone?" Leo asked.

"Nah," Adam answered, picked up Yahn. "They'll figure it out when they come out here in the morning. But we should go back before they figure out that we left."


	15. Chapter 15

**Mia Teresa Davenport:** **(It's fine.)**

 **"Yep."**

 **Soad?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"The Marlfox cannot be bested,_

 _Either in cunning or stealth,_

 _Whenever there is power to be seized,_

 _Plunder, land, or wealth!_

 _When other minds are slumb'ring,_

 _The Marlfox is wide awake,_

 _Figuring how and where and when,_

 _To deceive, to slay, to take!_

 _Invisibly, by the magical guile,_

 _Slyly, without a sound,_

 _Count all paws, make sure they're yours,_

 _When the Marlfox is around!"_

 **Brian Jacques _, Marlfox_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

They had been resting for maybe an hour when Chase started complaining.

"We need to go," he hissed, gathering his legs under him with a wince.

Bree pushed him back down gently, rolling her eyes. "What happened to waiting a few days?"

Chase pinned his ears. "I'm allowed to change my mind, damn it."

"Not this time, you're not," Bree snapped irritably.

" _I'm_ the mission leader," he huffed childishly. " _I'm_ in charge!"

"Not when you can barely walk, idiot!"

Chase crossed his arms, his tail twitching. "Oh, so now I'm too _crippled_ to lead?"

Bree resisted the urge to tear the tip off of his other ear. "No, you're just too _stubborn._ Whatever's so important can kiss my ass. We're not going anywhere."

Chase snarled loudly, baring his fangs and pinning his ears as he stood up successfully. For a wild second, Bree thought he was going to lunge at her again. Instead, he limped past her, his tail lashing. "I'll go myself, then!"

Surprised, Bree scrambled to her feet. "Chase, seriously, you-"

Chase let out a loud roar, silencing her. Without a word, he started off again.

Cautiously, Bree followed him. She wanted to tackle him. Maybe tie him to a tree or something. Whatever made him just stop and rest a bit, she would do it. She didn't, though. Something was very, very wrong with Chase. He was acting more like a demon than a person now. If she got too close, he might attack. Hell, he might bite _her_ throat out. So, wary, she watched, and she followed.

She was further surprised when the moons set and he didn't stop. His face was pained, his pace slow and his limp more severe than ever, but he kept going.

Bree didn't dare stop him. When what she estimated was noon rolled around, and she was exhausted and stumbling, she still didn't stop him. She wasn't about to lose a few fingers over this when he was becoming more tired himself. At least he wasn't going too fast. If he had been maintaining a steady, rapid pace, Bree would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. She didn't want to think about whether or not he'd come back for her. Did he have at least _that_ much humanity left anymore?

Bree didn't know, and it was alarming.

The moons rose again. Bree could barely keep her eyes open now. Her feet were dragging, and she often found herself losing focus between stumbles. She even fell over a few times, shocking her awake for a few extra minutes. She had to stop. There was no way she could keep going. There was no way that _Chase_ could still be going. He was still limping away, though, advancing at a snail's pace. His eyes were almost completely closed, and he was obviously barely able to move his leg at all anymore, but he pressed on until they reached the foothills at the base of a mountain range.

 _He's going to kill himself,_ Bree realized. _He's never going to stop._

 _So stop him,_ came a clear thought. It sounded almost contempt, as if it didn't think she was worth talking to.

That was stupid, though. Her own thoughts couldn't hate her. She was just exhausted. Bree shook her head a bit, locking her eyes on Chase ahead of her. "Hellcat? We really, _really_ need to stop."

To Bree's pleasant surprise, Chase actually stopped. He looked back at her, perking his ears. "But...we're so close..."

 _Tomorrow. Go tomorrow,_ Bree heard in her mind. Or, well, thought. She was in control of her own thoughts, she was sure. "Tomorrow," Bree said aloud. "Seriously, if we don't stop, we're going to die."

Chase was silent for several seconds, obviously lost in thought. Maybe he was talking to that strange voice in his head? Whatever was happening, Bree was wholly relieved when he nodded, sitting. "Tomorrow."

Bree plopped down near him, feeling better instantly now that she could sit. The sticky sweat that coated her was cooling in the night breeze. She shivered, relieved, and forced some essence from a rock to become a glass of water. She greedily gulped it down, feeling much better as it wet her dry mouth and throat. Once she was sure that she hadn't drunk it too quickly - getting sick sounded even worse when one was exhausted - she forced more water into it and nudged Chase. "Want some water?"

Chase's eyes lit up in an excited way that was comfortingly familiar. "Holy hell, yes!" He took the cup from her and drained its contents in seconds, purring. He grinned, wiping his mouth a bit as he lowered the cup, his ears perked. "Thanks."

Bree smiled, relieved that Chase was still in there somewhere. Said relief was short-lived, though. After a second, Chase laid down and curled up as much as he could, closing his eyes. "Chase, wait. We need to make a shelter."

There was no answer. He was already asleep, weary beyond caring for safety.

Bree sighed. She would just have to make one herself. How hard could it be? She started manipulating essence when a thought stopped her. _Sleep._

Of course, she wanted to sleep. It would be easy to just lay down and close her eyes. They needed safety, though. Camouflage to fool curious imps. Why was her mind contradicting her now?

 _Shelters are futile this close to the mountain. Demons can just look down from above and see it. There is no hiding a shelter here,_ came the reasoning.

It was around this time that Bree finally realized that the strange thoughts weren't her own. She hadn't thought of the demons on the mountains at all. Something was talking inside her head. Too exhausted to be alarmed, though, she just frowned as she laid down by Chase. _Who are you?_

 _I am you,_ came the reply.

 _No, you're not,_ Bree contested, closing her eyes.

 _I am,_ it protested. _I see everything and everyone when I want to. I know your mind, your strengths and weaknesses, everything about you. I know the mind of every man that ever lived, lives now, and will live. I know everyone. I know you so well that I might as well be you._

Too tired to argue, Bree just sighed and let herself fall asleep.

* * *

 _"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming."_

 **Pablo Neruda**

* * *

 _"Fear cuts deeper than swords."_

 **George R.R. Martin, _A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)_**

* * *

 _ **Douglas**_

As much as he hated to admit it, Douglas was too old for crouching.

Grinding his teeth to cope with the burning in his legs, Douglas watched a tank roll into downtown Mission Creek. Behind it, a squad of soldiers held their guns up, alert for even the slightest movement. It was only a small part of a newly-assembled, distant military base outside of Mission Creek that undoubtedly held hundreds of soldiers by now. If Douglas squinted, he could almost make out the tents.

Douglas had always dreaded the military. He'd had a couple of run-ins with Marines and SEALS back in his terrorist days. A fine-tuned battle machine, much more of a threat than a few officers, they had been there each and every time he was arrested.

Four times a prisoner because of the military. They were definitely a group that Douglas both deeply feared and deeply respected. There was no shame in falling to a group of warriors, he had always figured.

That didn't mean that he was about to go welcome them with open arms, though. Demons or no, Douglas was still fairly high on the list of wanted terrorists. Hence, why he was subjecting himself to the pain of crouching while he watched from behind a rubble pile.

Some rustling sounded beside him, making Douglas jump a bit and look. He instantly calmed down, though. It was just Kevin sitting down fully in the ash and debris, resting his laser gun on his lap. Douglas smirked a bit. "What's wrong, old man? Can't crouch?"

"I'm only a year older than you," Kevin pointed out. "And no, I can't. Not for an extended period of time, anyways. My knees can't handle it anymore."

"Hear that, Dougie?" Perry grinned. "He has knee problems. We should put him out of his misery."

"Don't make me kick you out there with those guys," Douglas hissed, jerking his thumb at the tank.

"If you do, I'll point out your hiding spot," Perry threatened. "If I down, we're _all_ going down. Right, Xaranthi?"

The afrit in question was busy washing the whiskers she had sprouted when she decided to turn into a mouse and sit on Perry's shoulder. She likely didn't care about the conversation, because she didn't answer.

Perry pointed at the mouse. "Trust me, she agrees."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "She probably doesn't give a rat's ass. Or the rest of said rat, for that matter."

"Rats are fun to kill," Xaranthi squeaked lazily. "They're clever little things."

"Shut up," Perry muttered. With a wince, Xaranthi fell silent.

" _Everyone_ shut up," Douglas hissed quietly. "They might catch us."

"They might _help_ us," Kevin argued. "They're the military. They can handle everything. Why not let them take us and everyone else to safety while _they_ fight Soad?"

"Wait, blondie's right," Perry agreed reluctantly. "But we could just forget everyone else and start over. Just the two of us, together forever."

"Listen here, bitch," Kevin muttered hotly, sparking a quiet, heated argument between the two.

Douglas sighed. If amphetamine withdrawal was anything like what he went through when he quit smoking, Kevin's excessive bitchiness would fade to normal levels in a few weeks or so. Until then, everyone would just have to deal with his short temper and irritability.

A distant bang caught Douglas' attention. He glanced back at the soldiers and, to his surprise, saw that they had stopped. Douglas frowned. Something was wrong.

 _Bang._

It definitely wasn't the military firing at something.

 _Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang._

They were repeating now, forming a pattern that was growing steadily louder. _Footsteps,_ Douglas thought grimly.

Kevin and Perry had fallen silent now, Kevin even getting up to crouch with Douglas. "Any bets on who that is?"

"Probably just an ATM on a rampage," Douglas answered quietly. When Kevin paled, Douglas reassured him that the ATMs were likely all destroyed by now. Maybe cracking a joke at that moment was a bad idea.

Perry nudged Douglas with her elbow. "If that's who I think it is, we're going to want to back way up."

"I second that," Kevin agreed, not arguing with Perry for once.

 _When the Hunter says run, you run,_ Douglas reasoned. He gestured to another pile of rubble several hundred feet further back. Wordlessly, they all scrambled towards it. When they reached it, Douglas crouched again with a wince - damn knee pain - and glanced back only to see Soad climb into view on top of the debris from what used to be a large office building. Although Soad was easily taller than the pile, he must have wanted an elevated position to watch the military.

A faint shout sounded, undoubtedly the soldiers being called to arms.

Douglas held his breath. These men were going to die, and he knew it.

Soad curled his lips back, growling lowly. This, despite the fact that he was farther from the trio than the soldiers were, wasn't faint at all. Douglas swallowed hard. Was that the last sound Bree heard before she was gone? He shuddered and leaned back a bit only to find himself pressed against Kevin. Neither of them said anything, but the familiarity was a bit soothing.

Small figures started to gather around Soad's paws. These were undoubtedly some of the demonic horde Soad had amassed. They would likely handle the new base when Soad was finished proving his point.

"Why is he just standing there?" Perry hissed quietly.

Xaranthi shrugged her little mouse shoulders. "Intimidation?"

Douglas didn't know if Soad idling around was at all intimidating after what he did next. The beast lowered his head, glared right at the group of soldiers, and _roared._ The small, loose bits of debris near Douglas started shaking with the sound, adding to the powerful effect. Gods only knew how loud the ear-splitting challenge had been down where the soldiers were.

Speaking of the soldiers, as soon as the roar ended, pops of gunfire sounded. A few of the demons hid behind Soad's massive paws, but the warlord himself was completely unphased. Instead, he dug his claws into the ground, spread his wings, and beat them repeatedly. A rush of wind sent debris flying straight into the soldiers, causing injuries galore. Gunfire was replaced by the screaming of the terrified and wounded soldiers, accented by the rallying cries of the commanding officer. The gust of wind had weakened significantly by the time it reached Douglas, only ruffling his clothes.

Guns were useless against Soad. Good to know.

A loud bang sounded, far different than Soad's footsteps. A trail of smoke chased the shell from the barrel of the tank's gun to its target: Square in the center of Soad's chest. It exploded on impact, smoke and fire blooming like a flower against the demon.

Miracle of miracles, Soad stumbled back a few steps.

Douglas felt Kevin suck in a sharp breath. He was practically radiating hope. Maybe the army _could_ kill Soad. If that was the case, than all the pointless scavenging that had been doing - not a single place seemed to have any surviving food. At least, none that they had found yet - would be for nothing. If they could safely leave town, then everything would be fine.

Soad righted himself as the smoke from the hit cleared, showing practically no damage to him. He narrowed his eyes. "Insolent mortals!" he roared. "I am nigh on a god compared to you, but you dare attack me? I am _omnipotent!_ You are _nothing!_ You-"

Another shell from the tank cut him off, sending him back a few more steps. As far as Douglas was concerned, it served the arrogant asshole right.

Angered now, Soad suddenly reared back onto his hind legs. He sucked in a large breath before lurching forward, spewing some kind of toxic mist out of his mouth. The unfortunate soldiers gagged and scratched at their throats while others ran to escape the fumes. All, though, collapsed after a moment, dead.

Wonderful. So Soad could do that. How perfect.

The demons around Soad's paws scattered towards the military base after a moment. Soad, however, stayed where he was. He looked right at the pile Douglas, Kevin and Perry were hiding behind and growled loudly. "Well, Summoner? Too afraid to come out without your stupid little staff? Won't face me _this_ time, will you, coward?"

Douglas felt his blood turn to ice in his veins. Soad had found them.

 _Fuck._


	16. Chapter 16

**Guest:** **Random fact: Depending on my mood, I might kill somebody. :3**

 **AzulaTano:** **Lol he indeed found a way.**

 **So, Soad?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"If you want me again, look for me under your boot soles."_

 **Walt Whitman,** ** _Leaves of Grass_**

* * *

" _Be calm. God awaits you at the door."_

 **Gabriel Garcia Marquez,** ** _Love in the Time of Cholera_**

* * *

 ** _Douglas_**

Kevin's warmth was gone in an instant as both he and Perry scrambled away. Douglas wanted to protest - at least let them die together - but he couldn't. Soad was on them in a few leaps, his piercing, bright eyes locked on Douglas excitedly. Azazel's Bane was hanging from one of his large horns, flashing a bit in the sunlight.

Douglas backed up a few steps, shaking. He liked it better when Soad was trapped inside Krane. He was so much smaller back then.

Soad grinned, his large yellow fangs displayed plainly. "You thought your little twig saved you, eh? It was just a stupid little staff filled with stupid little imps. What could it - and you - possibly do to me?"

Douglas backed up several more steps. The beast's breath was _rancid_. He tightened his hold on his laser gun. It wouldn't do any good against Soad, but having it was a bit of a comfort.

Even if Soad's dark scales would just reflect the beams.

Soad had to raise his head a bit now to look at Douglas. As the sun reflected off of him at the different angle, Soad's age suddenly showed. Small cracks and chips in scales were visible against the light. A few were even missing, rended free during battles with his equals in Otherworld, no doubt. The most damaged area, though, was his chest. The tank had left several bare patches of hide visible, and quite a few of the scales around the area were barely hanging on. No doubt, they would fall off soon.

Soad was still grinning, obviously enjoying himself. "I've met quite a few mortals in my time here, but none quite as stupid as you."

"I'm a fucking _genius_ ," Douglas muttered before he could stop himself.

Soad laughed loudly. "No genius would dare try and equal me! _Especially_ a whelp." His large eyes seemed to swirl a bit with amusement. "Without that staff, you are nothing but..." He trailed off, thinking. "What was it he said that once...? It was perfect for this." He closed one eye to concentrate.

Douglas took a few steps back. He could take a page out of Kevin's and Perry's book and bail while Soad was distracted. However, Soad was still watching him. A large paw crashed down over Douglas, low enough to the ground to force him to lay down _. This is how I die_ , Douglas thought miserably. _A little mouse, trapped by a cat that wants to play._

After a moment, Soad perked up, slamming his free paw down excitedly. "I remember! You're nothing but shit on the bottom of my shoe!"

Douglas swallowed nervously. "You don't wear - sorry, sorry!"

Soad had moved a large claw to rest right on Douglas' throat, shutting him up effectively. The sharp tip brushed his skin, and Douglas was honestly afraid to swallow. He might impale himself on the talon.

Soad growled lowly as small flames started to flicker to life around Douglas. "Arrogant Summoners trapped me here when they tried to steal my power, but not you. No, _you_ tried to kill me." The beast moved his head until his face was all Douglas could see. "I don't have enemies," he continued. "They don't live long enough to earn that honor."

Douglas started trembling involuntarily. When he had destroyed the Arm of Raziel, he hadn't had time to be afraid of death. Thoughts of keeping his family safe from the demon had dominated his entire mind's eye. Even when Chase had decided to ask about death, Douglas hadn't been terribly afraid. It was on his terms. _Their_ terms. There had been no other option at that point. No way to set the staff off from a distance, and certainly no way to fight Soad and his army.

Cornered animals tended to fight more ferociously than any others.

Now, though, was different. His death _wouldn't_ be on his terms. It would be on Soad's. Worse than that, it would be pointless. He would die, and no one would be safer or better off for it. Douglas would just be... _gone_.

It terrified him.

Douglas _liked_ knowing. Knowledge had always been his rock. Facts were his guiding light in this world.

There were no solid facts about the afterlife. Were his parents right? Did everyone go to Summerland? Did the Christians that plagued his existence have the right of it in the idea of Heaven and Hell? Did faith even matter? Was there anything at all? Did everything just cease to exist?

All of the sudden doubt was a bit surprising to him. Why now, when he needed it most, was his faith failing? He had been in deadly situations before, and he had never had this problem.

Maybe it was because it was just him this time? No one to protect or draw strength from. No, Douglas was alone now. Helpless and alone, trapped in the talons of a vengeful titan of a demon.

Well, trapped by talons and paralyzing terror. There would be no escape this time. No miracle. No talking down this massive creature. He would be ripped to shreds, or end up like Bree. He didn't want to be ripped to pieces agonizingly slowly by the demons of Otherworld!

He would deny it, but, at that moment, Douglas wanted to cry.

Soad started to glow slightly. Apparently, the ability to tear a gap between this plane and Otherworld took a ton of energy on Soad's part. "You're going to suffer as I do. Both of us, trapped in a realm neither wants to be in. I'll survive, though. You, on the other hand..."

Douglas winced a bit, tightening his grip on his gun.

Wait, his laser gun! He still had it! Would it work if he shot Soad's paw? Would it just reflect off his scales and hit Douglas himself? Douglas' window of opportunity was rapidly closing, and he was starting to panic. Take a chance and fire, or let Soad kill him? He could end up dead anyways. So...what did he want on his third tombstone? Killed by a demigod? Killed by a stupid long shot?

Soad's bright eyes glowed a bit, a malicious grin on the creature's face. This was the demon that hurt Bree and, by proxy, took Chase away. _This_ was the beast that, through his army, cost Adam his eye and Donald a few fingers. _This_ was the monster that destroyed the city and was likely going to move on the world. The one that had killed everyone that couldn't get to safety in time.

Douglas squeezed the trigger, deciding. He was going down fighting. There was no way in hell that Soad would get away with it. At least, not without a solid reminder of who almost destroyed him to begin with.

The flames rose higher around Douglas, a fact that accented the sharp, ripping pain that suddenly tore through him. Crying out wildly, he fired the gun. Just as he feared, the beam reflected off of the scales and hit Douglas' shoulder, burning him.

The internal tearing pain stopped, though. The flames died around him. Most importantly, the claw left his throat and the paw moved off of him.

And, oddly enough, Soad seemed to blow up, drops of blood landing around Douglas amid a shockwave of heat, smoke and sound that left Douglas' ears ringing painfully.

Without waiting for an explanation, Douglas scrambled to his feet and bolted, Soad's muffled, pained screams following him. He was sure his luck wouldn't last - it rarely did - but Douglas was a fan of head starts.

* * *

 _"Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we are walking all over others to get it."_

 **Criss Jami,** ** _Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality_**

* * *

 _"How easy it is, treachery. You just slide into it."_

 **Margaret Atwood,** ** _The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam, #2)_**

* * *

 ** _Perry_**

As soon as Soad started bounding towards them, Perry was running. Love of her life be damned; she wasn't going to be a demon's chew toy!

She noted with a grim satisfaction that Kevin had run, too. At least blondie was abandoning Douglas, too. She felt slightly better about it.

At least, she did until she saw that Kevin was actually charging towards the tank that was still in the middle of the street, Soad's acidic cloud dissipating around it. _He's not running away_ , she realized. _He's trying to save Douglas by using him as involuntary bait._

Angered, Perry adjusted her path to intercept Kevin. If anyone was going to get credit for the plan to save Dougie, it was going to be her.

The two reached the tank within seconds of each other. Instantly, Perry shoved Kevin to the side. "Oh, no! You're not saving him and getting all the credit! _I'm_ saving him!"

Kevin grabbed her shirt, pulling her close. His eyes were flashing with almost crazed panic as he snarled, "Take all the fucking credit! As long as Dougie's fine, I don't give a flying fuck who he thanks for it!"

Perry was taken aback by the ferocity of the statement. She hadn't been expecting that answer. Before she could respond, Kevin released her shirt and started climbing the tank. He paused halfway up and looked back down at her. "Get up here! I need someone to break into this thing!"

Startled into action, Perry picked Xaranthi up from her shoulder and put the mouse down on the tank's treads. "Help me get up this thing."

Xaranthi winced, seemed to fade into an oily stain, and reformed as her large self, hopping nimbly up onto the main body of the tank before reaching back to help Perry up. Quickly, they made their way to the top of the tank. Once on top of the machine, Perry pried the door open. Or, rather, she had Xaranthi tear it completely off so she could pull the body of a soldier out. As Perry kicked the body disrespectfully to the ground, she noted with some confusion that Kevin was crawling out to the tip of the tank's gun. He slid something inside before jumping down on the tank proper and scrambling for the open hatch at the top. "Get inside and start aiming this thing," Kevin hissed.

"I don't know how to aim a tank," Perry snapped. "Not without blowing something up first."

"Then learn on Soad, or get out of my way!" Kevin brushed past her, practically jumping down into the armored vehicle. A few seconds later, he called back, "Any ideas?"

Perry frowned and scratched her head a bit. "Did you try the steering wheel?"

The response was sarcastic. "Oh, yes. Everyone knows you control tanks with fucking _steering wheels._ Oh, and before you say to try the joystick, it's out of order, too."

"Listen here, speed freak," Perry started.

"I'm getting clean!" Kevin interrupted hotly.

A loud growl from Soad forestalled any further argument. The large creature seemed to have pinned something beneath his paw. _Dougie_ , Perry realized with dread. He could already be dead, for all they knew.

The gun suddenly started moving a bit. " _Now_ we're rocking," Kevin declared. "You know, it's not that hard, once you get the kinks worked out."

"Then shoot already," Perry snapped loud enough to make Xaranthi cover her ears.

"I can't," Kevin called back. "I'm going for his chest, and detonating something that close to Douglas is going to injure him, too."

"What choice do you have?" Perry reasoned. "Do you want him injured, or dead?"

A few seconds of silence followed before Kevin spoke. "If you can, get him to raise his head."

Perry frowned. "Douglas?"

" _Soad_ ," Kevin huffed before muttering. "Fucking amateur."

Perry took off her shoe and threw it down in the tank, grinning when it hit Kevin's head. He let out a surprised yelp, a sound that somehow caught Soad's attention. The demon raised his head slightly, his ear now pointed at them. "Fire now," Perry cried. If Soad dropped his head again, Douglas would likely burn inside the ring of fire that was rising around him before Soad raised it again.

"Fire in the hole!" Kevin practically howled. A split second later, Perry was covering her ears as the shell burst out of the gun, hurtling towards the titan. That _really_ got the demon's attention. He looked up fully and shifted his paw, frowning.

Then, Soad's chest seemed to burst into smoke and flames as the shell barreled into it. This time, instead of stumbling back a few steps and writing himself, the demon was screaming in pain and clawing at his chest. Far below him, a small figure was bolting away from the injured creature. _Good_ , Perry thought. _Dougie's safe._

Kevin poked his head out of the tank, climbing back into the open. "Did he run?"

Perry nodded, still watching Soad. He was clawing at the wound on his chest, opening it further with his claws. "What did you do to him?"

Kevin shrugged and pointed at his now-bare neck. "I threw my crucifix into the barrel. The shell carried it to Soad. I guess it got stuck in him.

Soad bellowed in rage and pain, still clawing at his injury. He hopped around a bit, his tail swinging wildly. It crashed into a pile of debris, sending several large pieces of wood and drywall towards the tank. Perry wasn't at all worried, though. It would be close, but the debris would miss them.

"Let's go," Kevin suggested. "He'll be pissed when he recovers."

Perry nodded. "Right." She turned to order Xaranthi to the ground, but her words were lost in her surprise as the afrit shoved her hard into Kevin. Caught off guard, the two tumbled off the tank with startled cries. Perry hit the ground hard, her breath forced from her lungs by the force. Mere seconds later, she finally understood what Xaranthi had done.

As the debris Soad kicked up crashed into her, before a sharp pain in her back sent her spiraling into darkness, Perry couldn't help but remember a warning Douglas had given her when he taught her how to summon.

 _Demons aren't pets. They aren't your friends. They are very intelligent and very, very cruel. Given the chance, they'll turn on you. And, more often than not, you won't survive._


	17. Chapter 17

**Mia Teresa Davenport:** **Perry, yes!**

 **Hellcat?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal."_

 **Criss Jami,** ** _Killosophy_**

* * *

 _"Persistence. Perfection. Patience. Power. Prioritize your passion. It keeps you sane."_

 **Criss Jami,** ** _Killosphy_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

"Wake up! Bree, get up! We have to go!"

Bree's eyes snapped open. Chase was so close to her that his face was the only thing she could see. His eyes were flashing with madness, his slit pupils dilated. "Come on," he hissed, pinning his ears. "We need to go! We need to go _now._ "

Bree sat upright, looking around for the threat. He was panicked, and that couldn't be good. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Let's _go!_ " Without waiting for another response, Chase sprang to his feet and practically sprinted towards the mountains, his awkward gait slowing him only slightly.

Bree scrambled up and bolted after him, confused. "Go where?"

"Up!" Chase called back, starting to beat his wings. In seconds, he was in the air, flying almost straight up the mountain.

Bree cupped her hands around her mouth, yelling, "What about me?"

It didn't matter, though. Chase was ignoring her in his crazed state as he flew ever higher, soon becoming nothing more than a tiny speck against the crimson sky. It was at this point that the little speck that was Chase veered into the mountain, disappearing into the shadows and rocks.

And, just like that, Bree was on her own again.

Bree set her jaw. He did _not_ just abandon her in the middle of Otherworld. If he came back, she was going to break a stick over his ears. She'd glue his wings together. She'd cut off the rest of his tail. She'd...She'd...

Well, he'd just better avoid coming back down there with her!

Bree rolled her shoulders a bit, sighing heavily. He was very likely going to stay wherever he had landed, so Bree had to go to him. She had never climbed without her super agility, but how hard could it be? People did it all the time, right? Picking what looked like an easy path, she started up the slope. Maybe it would be fun to climb a mountain without bionics.

It took all of an hour to disprove that thought.

Bree was inching along a narrow part of the winding path, trying to focus on her footing instead of the thirty foot drop that loomed before her if she slipped. It was about this time that Bree decided that climbing mountains was for adrenaline junkies and people with a death wish. Without her bionics - or any kind of safety equipment - it was difficult, exhausting, and incredibly dangerous. If she survived this, Bree would never climb a mountain again. In fact, she would've given up by now if her obviously-insane brother wasn't at the top. There was no way she was leaving him alone there in the mental state he was in. Who knew what damage he could do?

Bree breathed deeply, summoned her courage, and climbed on.

By the time evening rolled around, the temperature was dropping steadily. Bree made warmer clothing out of the essence from a rock. For the first time since their escape from the tree, Bree finally let herself look at the scratch an imp left on her leg as she changed into the new attire. It was healing now. She wondered briefly if it would leave a scar, like Chase's had. It was likely too shallow, but it was possible.

A faint roar sounded far above her, catching her attention. Frowning, and studied the spot where Chase had vanished. He couldn't roar so loud that she'd be able to hear him from that distance. Not even close.

So...what was _that?_

Bree shuddered, hugging herself a bit as a gust of chilled wind tugged at her clothes for a moment, a thought entering her mind. _Come and see._

Bree started to climb again.

* * *

 _"My trash can got stolen five times. Finally, the owner just let me have it."_

 **Jarod Kintz,** ** _A Zebra is the Piano of the Animal Kingdom_**

* * *

 _"O snail,_

 _Climb Mount Fuji,_

 _But slowly, slowly!"_

 **Kobayashi Issa**

* * *

 ** _Douglas_**

The going was quite slow now.

When Soad had let Douglas up, he ran. Whatever had gotten Soad's attention – the more Douglas thought about it, the more sure he was that someone had launched a missile at the beast – was an absolute life saver at the time. It had allowed Douglas to run for a good mile before exhaustion kicked in. When he found that running was a problem, he started to hide. He would duck under or behind rubble, wait until he was dead sure that the coast was clear, and bolt to another hiding place.

Unfortunately, it was becoming harder to force himself to move to the next hiding place.

Once the adrenaline had worn off, Douglas realized that his lucky escape hadn't been all that lucky for him. Aside from the wound in his shoulder that trickled blood constantly – remind him never to shoot a laser at Soad again – he discovered that the heat from the missile impact had burned him. They weren't horrible burns – not that he could tell, anyways. If he had a third degree burn somewhere, it had done a fine job killing off the pain nerves, but the painful blisters that were spread haphazardly across his body now made him reluctant to move.

Not that holding still was better. Movement just made them hurt so much worse.

The pain aside, Douglas had to get back to the Lab. Maybe Perry and Kevin had made it back there already – bastards, leaving him behind like that – but he couldn't take that chance. If he just gave up and waited for help, then there was every possibility that everyone would potentially starve waiting for him to return.

He had to get back. He had to tell everyone that there was nothing left, that no help was coming from the outside. They had to leave Mission Creek. They had no other chance to survive.

Douglas glanced around, ground his teeth, and bolted to the next pile of rubble he saw. To hell with the pain. He could rest when he got to the Lab. Right now, he had to keep moving.

* * *

 _"Yeah, as long as we know we're trapped, we still have a chance to escape."_

 **Sara Grant,** ** _Neva_**

* * *

 _"No matter how bad things are, you can always make them worse."_

 **Randy Pausch,** ** _The Last Lecture_**

* * *

 ** _Kevin_**

The sun was setting by the time Kevin could see again. He was relieved that the sun was shining, period. At least then, he knew he was alive. There was a pile of rubble hiding him from the outside world, but he was alive, and there was a hole to the surface that allowed air to flow.

Kevin tried to shift a bit, but didn't get far. The movement sent a shockwave of pain through him, forcing him still. Above him, the rubble shifted slightly, groaning. Kevin held his breath, worried that he might accidently bury himself further if he moved. After what seemed like a long time, the debris stilled itself. Kevin breathed a sigh of relief for a split second before the rubble groaned again.

 _I'm dead,_ Kevin thought. _I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead-_

 _"Xaranthi…._ "

Kevin frowned. That _definitely_ wasn't the rubble. In fact, that sounded like….

Kevin tilted his head back towards where he guessed the light was coming from. "Perry? Is that you?"

A few seconds passed before the answer came. "You didn't die? Damn it. Xaranthi, come back and finish him!"

Kevin rolled his eyes. That was definitely Perry. "Xaranthi tried to kill us both. She's probably out of earshot so you can't order her to save you."

"Why?" Perry asked loudly.

"Because if you die, she gets to go home," Kevin explained. "Didn't Dougie bother to explain that?"

"No," Perry answered. "Just that they weren't friendly."

Kevin sighed. "Well, now you know. Are you okay?"

Perry was quiet for a second before answering. "I think so. Can't feel my legs, but I think I'm fine."

Kevin winced. "I wouldn't move much. You might have broken your back."

"I've been through worse," Perry responded.

Kevin didn't want to ask about what could possibly be worse than a broken back. Who knew what answer he'd get from her? Instead, he changed the subject. "Did you see if Douglas ran?"

"He ran," Perry answered. "He's probably fine."

"Good." Kevin closed his eyes, sighing. He didn't want to move much in case he made his injuries worse…whatever they were. He couldn't see much past his shoulders. "Now what?"

"We dig out," Perry snapped. "What else?"

"Neither of us are in any position to dig out," Kevin noted.

"I'd like to hear _your_ ideas," Perry muttered.

"I have none," Kevin answered. "We're just screwed."

"Love your quitter attitude. Too bad you can't apply that to your –"

"Don't you fucking dare, bitch," Kevin hissed. "I'm trying! It's harder than you think!"

Perry laughed. Kevin sighed. Why was it the popular opinion that it just took willpower to beat an addiction? That just wasn't true.

"Hello? Is somebody there?"

Kevin perked up. That _wasn't_ Perry. Who was out there? Was it another demon? Was it someone who could help?

"Hey, we're here!" Perry started shouting.

Kevin sighed a bit. Perry decided for him. They were taking a chance that it was a friend. "Help! We're buried!"

Several seconds passed before a fourth person answered. "Keep talking. We'll get you out of there."

 _Friends,_ Kevin thought, relieved. _This person – or people – are friendly._

The sun had set completely when the debris over Kevin's head started shifting. "You're right on top of me," Kevin called, glad. His throat was starting to get sore. He watched as debris shifted more and flashlights appeared over him. A bit further away, Perry let out a triumphant cry as she was located. Kevin let himself smile for a moment before crying out in pain. A bit of debris shifted the rubble on him, digging into his injuries. "Easy," he called out. "That hurts."

"Sorry," a woman replied. "We're almost there."

Kevin frowned. He recognized that voice anywhere. Great. Now, he was _really_ going to die. He could feel it in his bones. His luck had finally run out.

But…maybe she would have mercy? She always was friendlier to him than the others. Maybe he could convince her to let him go. If he was lucky, he could get Perry off the hook, too. Not because he wanted to – even though he might actually like her I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude if she backed off Douglas – but because he had a feeling that Douglas had a soft spot for her, despite everything.

A large piece of rubble moved over Kevin's head, finally exposing him to the sky and his savior. She gasped loudly as the flashlight landed on his face. " _Kevin?"_

Kevin tried to smile. "Hey, Missy. How've you been?"


	18. Chapter 18

**James?**

" **Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognnize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"They tried to be too clever - and that was their undoing."_

 **Agatha Christie, _The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)_**

* * *

 _ **"** People speak sometimes about the 'bestial' cruelty of man, but that is offensive to beasts. No animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel."_

 **Fyodor Dostoyevsky**

* * *

 _ **Kevin**_

"I say we just shoot him. He's supposed to be dead, anyways."

"He can't even defend himself down there! You might as well be shooting a puppy that's chained up!"

"Stepping on a cockroach is more accurate."

"Look, he's going to die down there, anyways. Why not just leave him?"

Kevin ground his teeth. "I can hear every word you're saying, assholes."

He instantly regretted the words when the butt of James' rifle hit him hard on the head, causing an explosion of color to flood Kevin's vision. "Shut up, traitor, or I'll _really_ give you something to cry about."

Kevin shook his head, trying to ignore the blood that he could feel trickling down his face now from where James had hit him. "I'm not crying, James. I just think it'd be more fun to be surprised by what you do with me."

James rolled his eyes while a few Hunters snickered. "Face the situation like a man for _once_ in your life, faggot."

Outrage surged through Kevin immediately. It had been _years_ since someone had said that to his face. The jab at his sexuality took him back to memories of his family that he'd rather not relive. Angered, Kevin started struggling against the rubble pinning him down, ignoring the pain that shot through him with each movement. "Someone move this pile! I'm going to kick your ass!"

"Move it yourself, if you're so determined to come get me," James taunted, holding his arms wide as if inviting Kevin to come. Behind him, more laughter was breaking out among the younger Hunters.

Kevin snarled, getting as much of a grip on a chunk of wall that had landed on him before shoving. It didn't move far before he gave out completely, screaming as he strained something that was clearly very injured - judging by the grinding sensation, it was very probable that his arm was broken - but he did shift it an inch or two.

The laughter suddenly stopped, replaced by apprehensive murmuring.

"Did you see that?"

"That thing would take all of us to move!"

"He has to be _pissed..."_

The piece of wall that he had moved had been mainly drywall and a few bits of wood. Sure, it wasn't light, but it certainly wasn't too heavy, either. What kept it steadily on him was something resting on top of it, whatever that might be. Still, it hadn't been so securely wedged that Kevin couldn't slide it around slightly on the loose rubble it sat on.

It had honestly just taken a slight push to move before it caught securely on something and strained him too much, but Kevin felt slightly better now that the younger Hunters - wherever the new bastards had all come from; maybe they were training survivors to be Hunters now? - were slightly more respectful.

James, however, wasn't impressed. "Remarkable. At that rate, you'll be free in, say...a few years? And even if you _did_ get out, you couldn't kick my ass if I let you have the first swing."

Kevin rolled his eyes, but he knew James was right. Kevin was a good ten years older than him, and no where near as agile or strong as he used to be. Fighting a man in his prime would likely end in disaster.

That, and Kevin was never much of a scrapper, anyways.

Why couldn't Missy have dug him out? Why did she have to let James know he was still alive? Couldn't she have just let him go? She was going to let _Perry_ go. Why not Kevin? Kevin sighed heavily. He was having horrible luck lately. Hell, he would've been okay with the robot kid digging him out. But being discovered by the Hunters? _Especially_ when they wanted him dead?

What beautiful, beautiful luck. Maybe it was karmic revenge for selling out Douglas' kid at the junkyard a little while ago. Kevin certainly deserved it.

James pointed his gun at Kevin. "See this, guys? This pathetic man is nothing more than a drug-addicted traitor. In fact, he sold out his boyfriend's child for a few pills. Almost got the kid killed, didn't you?"

Kevin's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"Oh, please," James interrupted condescendingly. "You know we can get information on anyone we want. We know all about you, your Summoner boyfriend, and his stupid little brats." He shoved the barrel of the gun under Kevin's chin. "I wonder who it was that tipped the uncle off that his kid was about to walk into a trap? I _really_ have no idea. What's the matter, Kevin? Don't want us getting information about your beloved Summoners?"

Kevin grinned a bit. "Who was the dumbass that messaged me about the trap, hmm? Someone wanted me to watch Leo suffer. Did you think I'd do nothing about that?"

James turned a bit red, muttering something unintelligable as an excuse while the younger Hunters looked at him for an explanation. Finally, he settled for pressing the gun to Kevin's forehead. "I'm doing you a favor, speed freak. No addictions in the afterlife."

"Wait," Kevin cried out, his heart starting to pound. He always hated having a gun to his head. "You can't kill me! I have information!"

"I'm not giving you pills for information anymore, moron," James spat. "Our agreement broke when you betrayed us."

"First off, you're the ones that used my sight and addiction against me," Kevin huffed. "I never wanted anything to do with you assholes. Second, I know how to kill Soad. If I die, the information dies with me."

"So do we," James snorted. "Kill the idiot Summoners who control him."

"There are no Summoners that control him," Kevin explained desperately as James' finger tensed on the trigger. "Soad is locked on this plane, but he has free will! He can't be dismissed, only killed!"

James rolled his eyes. "Sure, you-"

A younger looking Hunter interrupted James. "Let him talk! If he's so friendly with Summoners, than he's going to know more about this than any of us."

James glared at her. "Susan, the Summoners _caused_ all of this!"

"No, they didn't," Kevin protested. "Summonres are dying left and right like everyone else! It's all the demons! And Soad is the one goading it on! Kill him, and they have no reason to keep attacking humans! There will be no one powerful enough to protect them while they do it! In fact, if you had _any_ sense, you'd you seeking the Summoners out and working with them to stop this, not trying to kill them! They can control the demons that aren't killed!"

The few of the new Hunters nodded in agreement. Kevin was slightly relieved. At least some of them could see sense. They nudged James, quietly urging him to talk to them before doing anything else. After a few seconds of deliberating, James moved the gun away from Kevin's forehead and followed the group away a bit. Kevin allowed himself to smile. Maybe there was a way out of this.

"It's about time," Prery huffed from wherever she was. "I'm going to kick that afrit's ass when she gets back. I'll show her who's the master around here!"

The disgust in Missy's voice was unmistakable. "You're a Summoner?"

"Yes, and if you see Xaranthi, send her back my way. Wait, where are you going? Get back here! I can't move my legs!"

Kevin was suddenly holding his breath. He watched Missy cross over to the group and say something to James. After a moment longer, the entire group came back to Kevin, James in the lead. He didn't look too pleased, but he pointed at Kevin anyways. "How do we kill Soad?"

"See, if I tell you, you'll just kill us," Kevin reasoned. "I have a plan to kill him, and the only way you'll know what I'm doing is if you follow what I say. And _that_ requires me being alive." When James tried to speak, Kevin raised his eyebrow. "What? You didn't expect me to just spill it, did you?"

James scowled. "If you want Adderall-"

"I'm trying to get off the stuff, so shove it up your ass," Kevin snorted. "The only way to win is to keep me alive."

At this, James went red with fury. For a wild moment, Kevin thought James would kill him anyways as he cracked the butt of the rifle across Kevin's head again. "Dig this maggot out," he spat. "Take him to where he's up to his waist in raw sewage and tie him there! No food or water until he talks!"

The group went pale, Missy even going so far as to protest. "James-"

"As for the Summoner," James went on, ignoring everyone, "leave her here! Let nature finish what her pet started!"

"You better not leave me here!" Perry snapped.

"She's just as important to this plan as I am!" Kevin added.

James ignored the protests though. As the training Hunters dug Kevin out and dragged him away, his hands bound way too tightly, Perry's enraged - and slightly terrified - threats fell on deaf ears.


	19. Chapter 19

**Mia Teresa Davenport:** **"Yes, yes he is."**

 **Missy?**

 **"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."**

* * *

 _"We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents."_

 ** _Mark Twain_**

* * *

 _"The truth is, the Devil's job is easy."_

 **Tyler Edwards,** ** _Zombie Church: Breathing Life Back into the Body of Christ_**

* * *

 ** _Bree_**

The climb up the mountain grew harder as she went higher. The path was steeper as she went, the air thinner and the weather colder. She had no idea why Chase would ever want to go up to the top. Hell, she just wanted to go home, not climb a mountain! However, as Chase was practically her guardian in this strange world – not to mention her brother - she had to get him back.

But…what was waiting at the top for her?

Bree had chosen not to think about it on her way up. However, now that she was standing outside the cave, her limbs aching from the cold and exertion, she hesitated to go inside. Something huge was in there. She had heard it on her way up. Now that she was outside its lair, she didn't think she wanted to see it.

But…Chase was in there.

Heat and the stench of sulfur rose out of the cave like a foul wind, equally encouraging and discouraging. On one hand, she really wanted to go warm up. However, what if it was nothing but a lava pit? What if Chase had fallen in, or had been eaten by whatever was inside?

 _He lives._

Bree sighed. She had grown tired of all the random thoughts that were starting to run through her mind. Was this what Chase felt like because of the thing he called his Voice?

It was certainly irritating.

 _Do you want to see him or not?_

Bree ground her teeth. Stupid voice. Steeling herself, she carefully stepped into the cave.

It was very obvious in an instant that she was going downhill. The heat continued to rise as she trekked down, causing her to shed her warmest clothing at regular intervals until she was left wearing nothing but her original shirt and jeans. She was debating taking those off, too, when the sweat made them stick to her in a most irritating manner. However, modesty won out, and she kept her clothes on. Besides, the idea of Chase seeing her without clothing was disturbing, to say the least.

Wherever he was.

A deep, growling voice suddenly rumbled through the passage. Bree braced herself as the walls shook around her. "He's right here. Keep coming, little one."

Suddenly, Bree didn't want to find out who owned that voice.

After several moments of hesitation, Bree continued down into the mountain, her hands shaking from anxiety. She had to get her little brother. She had to get her little brother. She had to get her little brother.

The path suddenly opened up into a cavern so large that she couldn't see the roof, let alone the other side.

Bree had to stop as the darkness was broken by the glowing of molten rock that seemed confined to the edges of the room, destroying her eyesight momentarily. Blinking rapidly, Bree waited for her eyes to adjust before looking around again.

The wealth that was accumulated there was shocking.

In piles that were several times taller than her were treasures small and large. She saw no coins, but silver and gold trinkets were gathered among larger, ornate weapons, armors and shields that had to be centuries old. Demons, imps through afrits, polished the items meticulously, making sure they shined gloriously in the orange light. It was then that she saw Chase, polishing a small cup with a smile.

She grinned, bolting towards him. "Chase!"

The large, booming voice that had reached her in the tunnel suddenly filled the cavern, stopping her in her tracks. "If you get near him, he'll attack."

Bree glanced around at the scrape of scales against stone only to see the largest demon she'd ever laid eyes on. _A dragon_ , she thought, but she knew it was far more than just a mythical lizard. It watched her with seven large heads, the eyes glowing wickedly. One growled, bearing its fangs as liquid fire dripped to the cavern floor, sizzling on the rock. Each head wore a crown – three of them had two crowns – and a rather large, dark symbol marked each of their foreheads.

The center head leaned down close to her, smirking. "Hello, Bree," he almost purred, his voice booming throughout the room.

Bree backed up several steps, swallowing hard. His largest tooth was easily twice as big as her. "Why would Chase attack me?"

"Because he's mine," another head answered, this one's voice musical and feminine. "All of these creatures are mine."

"And _you_ are?" Bree asked cautiously.

The head that was on her level laughed, his sulfur-scented breath rolling over her like a foul cloud. He raised his head again. "I am the Father of Lies."

"The Great Dragon and the Ancient Serpent," another head answered, her eyes glowing.

"The Tempter and the Theif," added another one, flicking his tongue out at her.

"The Son of Perdition."

"The Lawless One."

"Apollyon and Abaddon."

"Ruler of Demons."

Finally, the head in the center snorted with amusement. "But most just call me Satan or Lucifer."

* * *

 _"Confidence, courage, and determined spirit are vital for surviving hard times."_

 **Lailah Gifty Akita**

* * *

 _"Every great warrior must learn to endure and overcome the adversities of life."_

 **Lailah Gifty Akita,** ** _Pearls of Wisdom: Great Mind_**

* * *

 ** _Leo_**

Leaving Mission Creek was the farthest thing he had expected.

At least, not so soon. Leo had known that they would have to leave eventually, but had honestly expected it to be in a few weeks, when the demons had moved past the town. However, with no food left in the Lab, and none left in town….

Well, Douglas was right. They had to move or starve.

Douglas had dragged himself into the Lab, bloody and burned, he practically cursed Kevin and Perry when he saw they weren't there. The general meaning of what he said, when edited for decent company, was something like, "Those backstabbing cowards! They abandoned me to Soad and _you_ to starve, if I hadn't made it!"

Still, among all of the ranting, it was very easy to see that Douglas was worried about the two. Everyone was, really. What if something horrible had prevented them from making it back? Were they even still alive? Had Soad caught them when he missed Douglas?

They had no time to find out. They had no time at all. They had to move as soon as possible. Hopefully, they would either run into the two, or the two would find their way back to the safety of the Lab.

Packing up what little supplies they had, the family headed out of Mission Creek, sticking close to each other and holding laser pistols tightly. Bree stumbled along in the middle of them, Tasha leading her gently. Discreetly, Douglas sent Oly to find Perry and Kevin.

By the time dawn broke, they were well out of town. Though still quite a way from their intended location – Los Angeles – they could already see the lights in the distance. It was uplifting to see streetlights again. At least the demons hadn't gotten that far yet.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be soon.

* * *

 _"Dispute not with her: She is lunatic."_

 **William Shakespeare,** ** _Richard III_**

* * *

 _"So few want to be rebels anymore. And out of those few, most, like myself, scare easily."_

 **Ray Bradbury**

* * *

 ** _Sam_**

Kevin was wading his way through raw sewage, his face the very picture of disgust. His arm was bent almost comically in the wrong way, but he was adamant that no one touch it.

"I'm already going to be starved," he had reasoned. "No one's going to torture me, too."

Missy, however, was secretly defiant of James' orders. During a training run with a few recruits – Sam included – Missy had called a halt right by where Kevin was tied up. While everyone sat and ate a snack for an extra burst of energy, Missy produced a bit for Kevin. He'd been surprised and apprehensive at first, but was rather grateful that she wasn't going to let him starve.

It was around this time that Sam and a few other recruits joined Missy by Kevin, curious. One, a young man named Derek, nodded towards Kevin. "I thought James wanted us to starve him?"

Missy nodded. "Yes, but we're going to ignore him."

Loud gasps and quiet murmurs followed the announcement. Kevin gave Missy a serious look. "You know what's going to happen if you get caught. Don't risk your neck for me."

"I'm risking my neck for everyone, not just you," Missy snorted. "If you're right, and Soad has no Summoners, then we'll need someone who's fought him. If not, then we're all going to die. James might be in charge, but I'm not dying because he's being a stubborn asshole."

"But we're supposed to follow orders," Sam found herself saying. Normally, she wasn't fond of authority, but she needed to fit in here.

"James is wrong," Missy instantly hissed. "We need people with ideas. We don't have the numbers to hope to take Mission Creek back. If Kevin knows how to take Soad down, then I'm not going to let the method die with him." She looked back at Kevin. "As far as I'm concerned, James has lost it. He's trying to kill an old ally and left someone for dead."

"You've killed Summoners before," Kevin noted darkly.

"I know," Missy sighed. "But you're right. If this isn't their fault –"

"It definitely isn't," Kevin sniffed.

"-then maybe the surviving Summoners can help us control the smaller demons," Missy finished. "And we need people who've seen Soad up close to point out weak spots. Besides, we're supposed to save people from demons, not leave them to be slaughtered by them. I'm not listening to James."

"You're aware that this is treason?" Kevin noted, raising an eyebrow.

"I'd be a traitor before following a mad man," Missy responded, smirking.

Sam smiled. Finally, something entertaining. Lead by Missy, the group of recruits were now an internal rebellion against the old Hunter ways.

* * *

 **That's it for this story. There will be one more, of course, but I don't know when I'm going to get it published. :P But it's coming, damn it.**

 **So, until then, enjoy.**


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